Seven more patients, including four children, died at the government hospital in Maharashtra's Nanded district on late Monday. The death toll at the Shankarrao Chavan Government Hospital in the past 48 hours stands at 31 now. Out of these 31 deaths, there were 15 children and 16 adults.
In a social media post, the Nanded District Information Office (DIO) said, "The facts related to the death of patients at Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital is as follows: 24 deaths between September 30 and October 1; seven deaths between October 1 and 2."
“Please do not panic. A team of doctors is ready," the post added.
Maharashtra Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif spoke to the news agency ANI about the matter and said, "I am on my way to Nanded. This should not have happened. There was no shortage of medicines or doctors. We will investigate every death, and anyone found negligent will be punished."
Dr Dilip Mhaisekar, Director of Medical Education and Research, informed that a three-member expert committee from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district was formed to investigate the matter further.
"A three-member expert committee from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district has been formed with a mandate to submit a report. I am personally visiting the hospital to review the situation," Dr Dilip Mhaisekar told news agency PTI yesterday, October 3.
On Monday, October 2, the Shankarrao Chavan Government Hospital authorities said that the reason behind these deaths was the shortage of medicines. He also said that the twelve adults who previously died were due to various ailments, including snake bites.
They further explained that the hospital is only a "tertiary-level care centre", but patients come from different areas as this hospital is the only health care centre in a 70-80 km radius. The number of patients visiting the hospital or getting admitted sometimes goes beyond the budget of the hospital; hence, there was a shortage of medicines, they added.
However, later on Tuesday, the hospital released a statement saying there was no medicine shortage and the patients were in their “last stage”.
The Maharashtra cabinet will discuss the Nanded Hospital deaths in a meeting today. Cabinet may decide on forming an inquiry committee over the incident, according to a Maharashtra government official, reported India Today.
Also Read: Panasonic unit aims to triple revenue by 2030, make India an export hub