3 ICU patients die after powercut at hospital in Karnataka’s Ballari, probe ordered

Mangalore Today News Network

Ballari, Sep 15, 2022: Three patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) hospital in Karnataka’s Ballari died after a power cut on Wednesday, September 14. The victims’ families claimed that the power cut lasted for two hours on Tuesday night and on Wednesday morning, leading to the deaths.

 

The Karnataka government has denied the allegations but has also formed a panel to probe into the ICU deaths.

The victims were identified as Chetamma, Hussain and Manoj. According to Manoj’s brother, there was no power in the hospital for two hours at night and in the morning. Doctors had to resort to using a balloon to manually pump oxygen. Manoj also recorded the condition of his brother in the hospital.

“I confronted the district in charge, minister Sriramulu, with the video. He refused to comment and evaded my question. He was reluctant to answer my question and was running away from the mic. Before I showed him the video of my family, he was answering all our questions,” said Manoj’s brother.

Manoj was hospitalised on September 6 and he was fine till September 13 in a different ward. Thereafter, he was shifted to the ICU. There was a power cut for two hours after he was shifted.

“Again in the morning, there was a power cut around 6.15 am and there was no power till 11.30 am. Doctors gave us a balloon and asked us to press it. Two of us took turns and kept pressing the balloon. Thereafter, they told us that his condition is stable now,” said the victim’s brother.

He further added, “Amid this, two others who were in the beds next to us died. Even though my brother was dead, they asked us to shift to a different hospital. After that, they didn’t allow us inside. There was no power. That’s the reason he died. Since there was no electricity and oxygen, he died.”

Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah raised the issue in the assembly and alleged that the BJP government had murdered 3 people in the ICU at Ballari. This resulted in an argument in the assembly. However, power department officials responded to the issue on the floor of the assembly and denied the allegation that there was a power cut.

“There was no interruption in power supply through our feeder line. The hospital premises had broken the cable themselves. That should be maintained by the hospital. There has been no power cut on the record,” said the power department.

Reacting to the issue, BJP minister Sriramlu said, “I don’t have any interest in doing politics over the deaths. I will visit the families after the session. I will talk to them.”

Meanwhile, the District Commissioner (DC), Ballari, has refuted the charges that the ICU patients died due to the power cut.

“The patients were admitted in the night. There was a power cut the entire night and there was no oxygen supply. There was an issue with the generator which was sorted. The powercut videos being circulated are dated and old,” said the DC.

After the furore in the assembly, the Karnatka government ordered the formation of a panel consisting of five doctors to probe the ICU deaths that took place in VIMS hospital in Ballari district on Wednesday morning.

Courtesy: India Today