Three months on, inquiry committee report awaited

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 2

It has been nearly three months but the report of the inquiry committee formed to look into the death of three women at Mother and Child Hospital is still awaited. Principal Secretary, Health, Vini Mahajan today visited the hospital. When asked about the report, she said: “The department is working on it and our main aim is not to punish anybody but to find the real cause of the deaths”.

She said such cases often happened in hospitals located in big cities. The Principal Secretary took a round of Civil Hospital and Mother and Child Hospital located on its premises. She met the patients talked about medicines and diet they were provided at the hospital.

Three women died at Mother and Child Hospital allegedly due to the medical negligence in November-December 2015. Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani had formed a three-member committee, comprising Dr HS Bali, Director Family Welfare, and two doctors from the PGI, to probe the matter.

In January, the sample report of injections and medicines arrived but the post-mortem report of one of the patients, Ruby, is yet awaited, a main hindrance to the completion of the report.

Twelve samples of medicines had passed the test while one sample was declared substandard. Painkiller injection, Diclifinac, was suspected to be the reason behind the deaths. While a sample of the Diclifinac injection passed the test, the Oxitosin injection was found to be substandard.

Meanwhile, the deceased’s families are growing suspicious over the delay in the submission of the post-mortem report. They asked while the injection had been declared substandard, what was the inquiry committee waiting for?

Raj Kumar, relative of one of the deceased, Amrita, has written to the National Scheduled Castes Commission in this regard. He has demanded the commission should step in and carry out an investigation into the deaths at its own level, so the case can be solved at the earliest and the guilty punished.

“It has been nearly three months and we are still waiting for the inquiry committee report. One of the deceased was our relative and we have every right to know about the reason behind her death. We are eagerly waiting for the report,” said Raj Kumar.