The principal of Thiruvananthapuram Medical College and Hospital (MCH) dismissed reports linking the deaths of five patients under treatment in the ICU with a recent fire in the unit.
In a statement issued on March 21, MCH principal Dr PK Jabbar said that the five patients were accident victims with severe injuries. “If the death was linked to the fire, it should be evident in the postmortem. The death was not due to the fire incident or its aftermath. The doctors who treated them and doctors in the ICU have made this clear.They died on separate days.”
He added that the five deceased patients had not developed any additional complications during evacuations.
The fire broke out on March 17 and patients in critical care were immediately evacuated to another unit. It was contained without any casualties. Days after the incident, the relatives of five patients who died in the subsequent days alleged medical negligence during the fire.
As per reports, 36 critically ill patients were at the ICU at the time of the fire caused by a spark in a portable ventilator.
Chenkal-native Saneesh, who had suffered serious injuries in a bike accident and was under treatment at the ICU, died a day after the fire. Three days later, his relatives alleged that Saneesh had been using the same portable ventilator.
His relatives also alleged that Saneesh was not seen among the evacuated
patients. They were allegedly informed about his worsening condition on March 18. He died hours later. They’ve now said that they will file a complaint with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Following this, media reports surfaced of similar claims by the relatives of four other deceased patients identified as Krishnankutty, Abdul Raheem, Omana Amma and Sreedharan. Their relatives alleged that removing patients from life support worsened their conditions.
MCH authorities have denied receiving any complaints. “We will take necessary steps if we do,” they said and termed the media reports “unfortunate”.