With one more child dying Thursday, the number of crib deaths at Kolkata’s Dr B.C. Roy Memorial Hospital for Children in the past 48 hours rose to 13. The hospital authorities, however, claimed the deaths of so many babies in such a short span of time was not abnormal.
“After critically analysing the cases, we found they were underweight and most were suffering from infection and congenital heart diseases. To you the number (of deaths) might seem abnormal, but for the hospital (these) were not unexpected,” Dr Dilip Kumar Pal, the hospital superintendent, said.
Rattled by the furore over the deaths, the West Bengal health department set up a four-member inquiry panel which was directed to submit its report by Thursday evening.
This report gave the hospital a clean chit, saying there was no negligence by doctors and other hospital staff. The committee found that most babies who had died were brought there in an extremely critical condition.
Echoing the superintendent’s views, the report also said the babies were underweight and were suffering from septicaemia and heart diseases. The long journey from different districts to this Kolkata hospital had also taken its toll on the babies’ delicate health, the report suggested. The hospital superintendent said he would look into complaints of misbehaviour by some hospital staffers.
In late July, nearly 20 babies had died in the same hospital within 48 hours, triggering angry protests. Then too an inquiry had eventually absolved the hospital of blame.