Death of 46-day-old infant in hospital: Family alleges negligence

Updated on: 18 January,2011 08:06 AM IST |
Salil Urunkar |

The Bharati Vidyapeeth police have registered a case of accidental death after a 46-day-old infant died allegedly due to suffocation and his family members accused the doctors of medical negligence

The Bharati Vidyapeeth police have registered a case of accidental death after a 46-day-old infant died allegedly due to suffocation and his family members accused the doctors of medical negligence.

The boy baby was born on December 3 last year at the Bharati Vidyapeeth Hospital, Katraj. Family members have accused the doctors of negligence after they failed to give the exact cause of death. The doctors in their defence say that the death was caused by Pneumonia.

Senior police inspector Nagnath Wakude said, "Further action will be taken only after the post mortem report."

"The baby was kept in the ICU after his birth since he was born in the seventh month and was underweight.

Three days ago, the doctors shifted him to general paediatrics ward claiming he was normal and that he will be discharged on Monday. They also gave us a bill of Rs 2 lakh," said Ajay Shinde, father of the child. "On Sunday night, renovation work was being carried out in ward number 4 located on the second floor. My wife alerted the doctors after our baby started having breathing problems because of dust. But nobody paid attention."

However, the hospital authorities denied charges of negligence claiming that the infant died because of pneumonia. Paediatrics unit head Dr Sanjay Lalwani said, "The infant was underweight. We treated him for 46 days with utmost care. His lungs were weak because the milk was going into the respiratory pipe instead of the food pipe. We tried our level best."