MillenniumPost
Bengal

Negligence whiff in death of newborns at city hospital

Staff of a state-run hospital have been found guilty of medical negligence that led to the death of two infants in a radiant warmer apparatus and strict action would be taken against them, officials said.

A four-membered probe committee, headed by Kolkata Medical College and Hospital principal Tapan Kumar Lahiri, submitted its report to the health department during the day.

“We have identified the staff who were responsible for the lapses. Some of them were directly involved and some are indirectly responsible for what happened. We have taken cognisance and the culprits would be dealt with severely,” West Bengal health secretary Malay Kumar De said.

Refusing to comment as to how many staff were found guilty by the inquiry committee, he said strict action against the guilty would be taken soon for which the process has already been initiated.

Prof Sikha Banerjee, medical superintendent-cum-vice-principal of the hospital said, “We have submitted our report to the higher authorities. They will take the necessary action after reviewing the report.”

The two infants were found on Friday last to have succumbed to the heat in the radiant warmer apparatus where they were kept as their body temperatures was low at birth.

The bereaved parents also accused the hospital of misleading on the cause of the death in the death certificate. Admitted to the sick neonatal care unit, the infants died on November 21.

According to the WHO, newborn babies, in particular the pre-term and the low birth weight, are predisposed to hypothermia and no other equipment is identified more with the special care of newborn babies than warming devices, namely incubators and radiant warmers.
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