Alleged negligence: Four infants die as hospital runs out of oxygen

Enraged family members tear apart hospital, protest on streets.

KARACHI:

Four infants who were on ventilators at a private hospital in Korangi died after the medical facility allegedly ran out of oxygen supply on Friday.

A total of seven infants were admitted at Shah National Children's Hospital in Allahwala Town on Thursday. "Seven infants were brought from the National Institute of Child Health and other healthcare facilities to our hospital," the hospital owner, Shah, told The Express Tribune. "Two of the children were confirmed dead on arrival and another two, whose condition was determined as extremely critical, expired later on." The deceased children were identified as Aroosa, Samia, Shaista and Mustafa.

The police suspect, however, medical malpractice that led to the children's death. "The children were on ventilators and apparently the oxygen supply was disrupted, resulting in the deaths of four children," claimed Korangi Industrial Area SHO Tariq Rahim. "The police will register cases of criminal negligence against the hospital management, if the parents press charges."

Shah National Children Hospital was established in Allahwala Town around three years ago on rented premises by a Hyderabad-based man Tariq Shah, according to the police. SHO Rahim added that the police have contacted the hospital owner in Hyderabad and also sent their men to have him in custody for further investigations and possible legal action.

Soon after the incident, angry family members of the deceased children started protesting outside the hospital. They were joined by the residents who stormed the hospital, ransacked equipment and blocked the roads by torching tyres.

In order to control the situation, the area's assistant commissioner, Abdul Haleem, and the police reached the turbulent neighbourhood. Later, the paramilitary force was also called at the site to control the mob.

The protesters demanded the hospital staff and the doctors responsible for the incident be handed over to them. Apart from three hospital employees, the rest of the doctors and the management had already managed to escape from the vicinity. The police arrested the three staffers and subsequently sealed the healthcare facility. They also seized the medical records, confirmed Landhi SP Faisal Noor.

"We have also seized all the available medicines that will be sent to the laboratory for the forensic report," said the assistant commissioner.

Haleem added that the hospital's available records confirmed that they had only seven children admitted at the time, out of which four were reported as 'casualties' on Friday. "The cause of the deaths has yet to be confirmed but we have taken action against the hospital based on the accounts narrated by the families of the deceased."

The residents claimed that this hospital, which is the only one in the area with ventilators, is part of a larger network of eight or nine other hospitals. They make money by sending infants to Shah's hospital even when there is no real need for the patient to be on a ventilator, claimed one protester.

Nasir Wali, a relative of a deceased, told The Express Tribune that the hospital administration demands Rs20,000 to Rs30,000 at the time of admission and then charges an additional Rs5,000 to Rs10,000 every day. "In exchange of the hefty amounts, we did not see any doctor present at the hospital while young and seemingly inexperienced staff was treating the minors," said Wali.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2014.