Gopalganj DM orders probe into death of newborn

Alok Mishra

Gopalganj: Gopalganj DM Rahul Kumar on Tuesday evening ordered an inquiry into the death of an infant at Sadar Hospital. Taking serious note of the incident, the DM  directed Civil Surgeon (CS) Madheshwar Prasad Sharma to probe the incident and take stern action against the employees found wanting in duty. The DM said that action would be taken against the erring employees of the Sadar Hospital.

Eyewitnesses said that Lovely Devi, wife of Jai Ram Kumar of village Kararia under Town police station, was admitted to Gopalganj Sadar Hospital after she suffered from labour pain late on October 31 night. She gave birth to a child at around 2.30 am late in the night. The attending doctors directed for admitting the child to ICU and asked the employees to provide oxygen to the baby.

The eyewitnesses said that there was no oxygen in the hospital and it was brought to the Sadar hospital from somewhere else. By that time, the baby had expired, they said. The family members of the baby created ruckus at at the hospital alleging that the doctors on duty were sleeping and did nothing to save the baby.

Hospital sources said that number of cases related to respiratory problem has suddenly increased after Deepawali and the hospital lacked adequate supply of oxygen to meet any emergency. However, Gopalganj CS claimed that the baby died as it was very weak. The baby did not die due to lack of oxygen in the hospital, he claimed adding that the doctors attended the child and the baby was found dead.

It may be mentioned here that one Vindhyachal Tiwary, a retired Postal employee and native of village Basdila under Town police station, was admitted to Sadar Hospital in March, 2015, after he complained of respiratory problem. The attending doctor had removed his oxygen pipe and fixed it to some other patient leading to death of Tiwary. His family members had ransacked the hospital premises and assaulted the doctors.