Bengaluru: It was panic at the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) as worried parents and relatives of two children, who died at the NICU of hospital, ransacked the ward, and eight parents rushed their children out of the NICU to other hospitals on Wednesday afternoon.
An angry parent, who refused to be identified and who was part of the protests, told Deccan Chronicle that they were worried because the doctors were refusing to reveal the cause of death and seizure of the two infants. “An infection seems to be spreading in the ward, but no information is coming from the doctors,” said the parent, whose child was at the step-down ICU of KIMS.
“The medical superintendent did not even tell us the reason for the simultaneous deaths, despite parents asking the reason,” said another parent, who also took part in the protest. The condition of the first baby, born to Rashi, had been admitted to the hospital on July 3. The baby’s condition worsened around 9 am on Wednesday and was put on ventilator. The child was declared dead at 11 pm by hospital authorities. In another case, the child of Dakshayani, who had preeclamsia delivered a preterm baby on June 29, and was shifted to NICU the same day. Dakshayani's baby died at 4 pm on Wednesday.
Hospital authorities told Deccan Chronicle that the neonatal ICU had 16 critically ill neonates which were prematurely delivered and of which four were in very serious condition and were on ventilators. “Neonates in the NICU have different diseases and are at end stages. They were referred to KIMS from other hospitals,” said Dr I. Suresh, Medical Superintendent, KIMS.
“Ms Rashmi’s baby was diagnosed with term AGA, Meconium-stained amniotic fluid (MSAF) and sepsis. Ms Dakshayani, who had preeclamsia, delivered a preterm baby on June 29 with birth weight of 1.5 kg. In view of prematurity and low birth weight baby was shifted to NICU on the same day,” he said.
“Parents of the two children triggered a mob fury in front of the NICU. Parents of the remaining babies barged inside, created commotion and took their eight babies on their own. They left the hospital without intimation and against the advice of the doctors in NICU," said Dr Madhu Shankar, Administrative Medical Officer, KIMS. “All necessary precautions were taken and all neonates were treated with utmost care. As critical cases are admitted to NICU, it is difficult to predict the prognosis of the neonates. All complications and outcomes of the individual cases are explained to the parents during the counselling by the doctors,” Dr Suresh said.
Dr Rajani M., DHO, Bangalore Urban, visited the hospital late on Wednesday evening. She said that it was a panic-like situation at the hospital. "It was a clear case of panic and the security should have been more alert. The guards should not have allowed the parents and relatives inside. Seizures are common at such high-dependency neo-natal care cases, because of a host of reasons like structural anomalies and electrolyte imbalance," explained Dr Rajani.
"The health minister has ordered a high-level inquiry. Dr G.M. Vamadeva, Director, Directorate of Health and Family Welfare Services, has constituted a panel of high-level neo-natal experts to investigate the incident," she said.
