HoD Paediatric Surgery removed, doctor suspended amid MY Hospital rat bite controversy

Indore: Amid the rat bite controversy at Indore's government-run Maharaja Yeshwantrao (MY) Hospital, where two newborns died after being gnawed upon by rats inside the NICU, the MGM Medical College authorities removed the head of the pediatric surgery department, and the state government suspended a doctor.

According to the order issued in this regard, Dr Manoj Joshi was suspended on charges of dereliction of duty, with allegations of being negligent while performing his duty.

On the other hand, Medical College dean Dr Arvind Ghanghoria removed Dr Brijesh Lahoti, HOD of the pediatric surgery department, without any reason and appointed Dr Ashok Kumar Ladda in his place with immediate effect.

Also read- Death of 2 newborns at Indore Hospital: NHRC seeks Action Taken Report

While the administration did not provide a specific reason for dismissing the doctors, rumours suggest that the rat bite incident is the possible reason behind their suspension and removal from the hospital.

Previously, the hospital authorities suspended two nursing officers, a nursing superintendent and other staff members who were in charge of the NICU.

The move sparked outrage among the medical fraternity, who pointed out that doctors have been made scapegoats in the case, while the government has failed to take full responsibility for preventing it. Instead of upgrading the facility, the government chose to act against the doctors, which raised serious questions about the decision.

Amid this, the MY Hospital superintendent Dr Ashok Yadav who earlier stated that the cause of the death of the two newborns was their pre-exixsting medical condition - congenital deformities, not the rate bite had gone on a 15-day leave citing ill health, leaving his charge with Dr Basant Nigwal (MYH), Dr Sumit Singh (Super Speciality Hospital), and Dr Ramu Thakur (Transfusion Medicine Department), as per ET report.

Recently, the district administration provided a cheque of Rs 5 lakh to one of the newborn's father, Sajid. Earlier, the district administration had provided the same compensation to the parents of the other newborn, who died after being bitten by rats.

"Gross Negligence," says High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has, on its own, taken cognisance of the deaths of two newborns, terming it an apparent case of "gross negligence", and issued notices to authorities.

Referring to newspaper reports, the court on Wednesday said it needed to take up the matter 'suo motu' (on its own) as a Public Interest Litigation, and scheduled a hearing for September 15.

On the intervening night of August 31 and September 1, two infants admitted to the ICU of the government-run hospital were bitten by rats and later died, said a division bench of Justices Vivek Rusia and Jai Kumar Pillai.

"Prima facie, it appears to be a gross negligence on the part of the administration of the hospital," it said, issuing notices to the principal secretary of the Madhya Pradesh public health and family welfare department, dean of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College which is attached to the hospital, Indore divisional commissioner, district collector and the city police commissioner, reports PTI.

The additional advocate general shall submit their replies along with copies of the post-mortem reports, the high court said, while appointing senior advocate Piyush Mathur as an amicus curiae to assist the judges.

Medical Dialogues recently reported that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took cognisance of the deaths of two newborns and issued notices to the Principal Secretary, Public Health and Medical Education Department, Madhya Pradesh government, and Indore District Collector, seeking an action taken report within 10 days.

Two newborns were bitten by rats inside the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). One of the newborns, bitten over the weekend, passed away. The second infant admitted to the same neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) reportedly died after suffering injuries believed to be caused by a rat.

However, hospital authorities stated that the cause of death of the two infants was their critical medical condition, not the rat bite. They attributed their deaths to pneumonia and septicaemia, respectively. According to hospital officials, the reported rat bite resulted only in “minor scratches” on two fingers and was not a contributing factor in the fatality.

Meanwhile, the families and civil society groups have alleged gross negligence, as they claimed that the deaths are linked to alleged rat bites inside the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Also read- Another newborn dies amid rat bite allegations at Indore Hospital