Five infants die in 36 hours at Gorakhpur hospital, families allege negligence

Gorakhpur: Five infants died at a women’s hospital in Gorakhpur within 36 hours, triggering protest by family members who alleged negligence by the hospital. [caption id=“attachment_2176159” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] While three infants died in the hospital Sunday evening, two others had died earlier, hospital officials said. Following the incident, District Magistrate Ranjan Kumar ordered a magisterial inquiry and assured of necessary action on the basis on the inquiry report. The family members of the infants have accused the hospital doctors and nurses of negligence and lodged a strong protest. They even refused to send the bodies for post-mortem examination. Local MLA Radha Mohan Das Agarwal joined the protest accusing the hospital of negligence and demanded a proper inquiry into the matter. The hospital authorities have, however, rejected the allegations. “The infants died as they were improperly laid down after being fed by their mothers and they could not breathe,” chief medical superintendent of the hospital Dr Sunita Kumar said, adding, the death of five infants in the hospital in a short duration is a coincidence. PTI