31 deaths in hospital due to ‘shortage’ of medicines trigger outrage in India

At least 31 patients died in a government hospital in the western Indian state of Maharashtra in the last three days due to an alleged shortage of essential medicines, triggering public outrage, said officials.

The deaths, including 16 infants, were reported in Dr. Shankarrao Chavan Government Hospital in Nanded district of the state.

“We always ensure that a patient does not lose his life for lack of medicines at our hospital. We make local purchases in case of need. We cannot deny that sometimes, there may be a shortage of medicines for non-serious ailments,” Dr. S R Wakhode, medical superintendent at the hospital, told reporters.

“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,” Nanded district information office (DIO) posted on X on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, with the death toll on the rise, the Maharashtra government has formed an inquiry committee to probe the incident.

Opposition political parties have also expressed their outrage over the deaths.

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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has demanded a thorough investigation into the incident.

Kharge said: “It is said that these patients died due to lack of medicines and treatment. A similar incident took place in a government hospital in Thane in August 2023 in which 18 patients lost their lives.”

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on X: “The BJP government spends thousands of crores (millions) of rupees on its publicity, but there is no money for medicines for children? In the eyes of the BJP, the lives of the poor have no value."

The state is being ruled by the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) coalition.

Sharad Pawar, the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), in his social media post, said: “The unfortunate incident of death of 24 people, including 12 newborns, in 24 hours in a government hospital in Nanded is literally shocking."