Nine persons died within a span of 24 hours at a government hospital in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur on Wednesday, triggering off speculation about medical negligence.

All the patients who died, were suffering from severe chronic ailments, and were being treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the Times of India reported.

Opposition party leaders and social activists protested at the hospital premises on Wednesday evening alleging lapses in the hospital, The Hindu reported.

Hearing the news about the deaths, Anantapur Collector G Veerapandyan also rushed to the hospital on Wednesday.

After taking stock of the situation and interacting with the hospital management, he clarified that the deaths happened due to normal reasons.

When the Collector visited the hospital, the protesting activists of the Left parties entered into an argument with him and alleged that the hospital was not equipped to handle specialised cases.
However, the hospital has denied the allegations.

Speaking to TNM, Medical Superintendent of the hospotal, Annam Jagannath, said that the issue being portrayed as lapses in the hospital or inefficiency on the management’s part, was totally false.

“The nine patients who died were elderly people between 70 and 90 years old. They were suffering with serious kidney related diseases and brain haemorrhage. Among the dead, four patients were shifted from a private hospital, when it was certain that they would succumb. They were treated in the hospital for less than four hours,” he said.

Dismissing the allegations of poor services offered by the hospital, he said that the hospital was fully equipped and offers the best services to its patients.

The deceased were identified as Obanna (95), Sriramulu (65), Sarada (40), Anand (56), Lakshmi Devi (25), Sanjappa (70), Tirupal (55), Ganganna (45) and Chennamma (80), The Hindu report adds.