Panel Probing Case of Newborn Being Wrongfully Declared Dead Finds Max Hospital Guilty

New Delhi: A three-member panel formed by the Delhi Government to probe the shocking case of a premature newborn being wrongfully declared dead by a private hospital submitted its report on Tuesday.

The preliminary report, submitted to health minister Satyendar Jain, has found Max Hospital in Shalimar Bagh guilty of not having followed prescribed medical norms in dealing with newborn infants.

While it will take another seven days for the final report, the panel has found evidence of negligence which includes no ECG being done to confirm whether the infant was dead, the dead and living children were not kept separately, and so on.

The panel which consists of three doctors, a gynecologist, a paediatrician and a hospital administrator, gave its reports after examining records and visiting the hospital.

Jain had said that the government could cancel the license of Max Hospital Shalimar Bagh if found guilty. Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal had also hinted a strong action, saying, “We value the independence of private hospitals and do not wish to interfere in their functioning. However, there ought to be a legal framework to check open loot and criminal negligence by a few black sheep.”

The private hospital had declared new-born twins dead and handed them over to their parents in sealed plastic bags even as one of them was still alive. The parents realised this when they were on their way to perform the last rites. They rushed the baby to another hospital which declared the baby alive.

According to the twins' grandfather Pravin Malik, just as they were on their way to perform the last rites, he noticed there was some movement in the packet in which the kids were handed over to them.

"We were utterly shocked at the hospital's apathy," said Pravin.

Max Healthcare decided to terminate the services of two doctors allegedly involved in the case on December 3. "While the inquiry by the expert group which includes external experts from the IMA is still in process, we have decided to terminate the services of two treating doctors, doctors AP Mehta and Vishal Gupta in the case relating to the twin extreme pre-term babies," Max Healthcare said in a statement.