2017 Gorakhpur hospital deaths
 Location of Gorakhpur district in Uttar Pradesh | |
| Time | 2017 |
|---|---|
| Location | BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Coordinates | 26°48′44″N 83°24′3″E / 26.81222°N 83.40083°E |
| Deaths | 1,317 (as of September 2017) |
A large number of child deaths occurred at the state-run BRD Medical College hospital in Gorakhpur city of Uttar Pradesh, India in 2017. As of 2 September 2017, 1,317 children had died at the hospital in 2017. The 2017 deaths attracted national attention in August, when 325 children died at the hospital after the hospital's piped oxygen supply ran out[1]. The number of child deaths in previous years were 5,850 in 2014; 6,917 in 2015; and 6,121 in 2016.[2]
Acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) was a major cause of the deaths: Till 29 August 2017, 175 children had died because of encephalitis (including 77 in August alone).[3]
Shortage of oxygen supply was discovered to have been a major cause for avoidable deaths. The oxygen supply was cut by the supplier due to long non-payment of dues. The state government had ignored repeated requests for clearing the dues despite warning about supply being cut. One year after the incident, the families of the victims had not been compensated or visited by state government officials[1].
Child deaths
The BRD Medical College hospital is one of the biggest government hospitals in Uttar Pradesh to have specialized facility to treat neo-natal and pediatric encephalitis. It has seen a number of child deaths since 1978, when the first encephalitis outbreak in the Gorakhpur region. During 1978-2017, around 25,000 children have died of encephalitis.[4]
As of 3 September 2017, 1,317 children had died in the hospital during 2017. The number of deaths has sharply declined compared to the previous years.[2]
| Year | Children admitted | Total child deaths | Child deaths per day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 51,018 | 5,850 | 16 |
| 2015 | 61,295 | 6,917 | 19 |
| 2016 | 60,891 | 6,121 | 17 |
| 2017 (Till Sep 2) | Not available | 1,317 | 5.3 |
As of 2 September 2017, the month of August saw the highest number of deaths (325):[2]
 | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
August deaths
On 6th April, the hospital's supplier, Puspha Sales wrote a letter to the Chief Minister, Adityanath, and Health Minister reminding them that BRD Hospital's dues were unpaid and that they would be discontinued unless they were paid. On June 3, 2017, Pushpa Sales wrote to the Principla, Rajiv Mishra, Principal Secretary in the UP government, Anita Bhatnagar Jain, the Director General of Medical Education (DGME) in the UP government, K. K. Gupta, the superintendent in charge at BRD Medical College, the head of the pediatrics department, Dr Mahima Mittal, and the district magistrate, Rajeev Rautela reminding them of the unpaid dues and the fact that Encephalitis patients, who would increase with the rainy season, require 24 hours supply of oxygen. Pushpa Sales wrote 20 letters to Rajiv Mishra about the unpaid dues. Mishra in turn, wrote tenletters to the UP government about the same, and even raised the issue in a video conference with the DGME, principal secretary and district magistrate. On 30th July, Pushpa Sales sent a legal notice to the Principal, giving them until 14th August to clear dues. Oxygen ran out in the plant in the early hours of 11th August[1].
The day to day handling of this crisis was the responsibility of the principal at the time, Dr Rajiv Misra. Pushpa Sales sent him about 20 letters to clear pending dues.
On 10th August, the hospital's oxygen supply was cut by its suppliers, Inox and Pushpa Sales.
The deaths attracted media attention in the week of 7-13 August 2017, when Raj Babbar and others attributed them to a liquid oxygen supplier cutting off the hospital for non-payment from the state government. However, the supplier denied the cutoff. The supplier of oxygen to Baba Raghav Das Medical College allegedly stopped providing oxygen due to an unpaid debt of US$50,000.[5] Starting on 10 August 2017, 30 children died within 48 hours: 17 children in the neo-natal ward, five in the AES (acute encephalitis syndrome) ward and eight in the general ward.[citation needed]
| Date | Number of deaths | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NICU | AES | Non-AES | Total | |
| 7 August[6] | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 8 August[6] | 7 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
| 9 August[6] | 6 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| 10 August[6] | 14 | 3 | 6 | 23 |
| 11 August[6] | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 12 August[7] | 11 | |||
| 13 August[7] | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 72[7] | |||
Investigation
The hospital's principal RK Mishra was suspended on 12 August by the Government of Uttar Pradesh for "negligent behaviour" after which he resigned.[8] On 13 August, the head of encephalitis ward at the hospital, Kafeel Khan, was removed as the nodal officer.[9]
On 14 August, Pushpa Sales, the oxygen supplier to the hospital, released a statement that it never stopped the supply of oxygen cylinders despite the outstanding dues. Manish Bhandari, managing director of the company, stated, "The government must find why there were just around 50 cylinders instead of 400 on that particular day when deaths took place. I suspect a big oxygen cylinder theft or racket, which they must find it out."[10]
Reactions
On 12 August, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office said he is "constantly monitoring" the situation with Minister of State Health Anupriya Patel and the Union Health Secretary.[11] Siddharth Nath Singh, the Health Minister of Uttar Pradesh, denied a lack of oxygen was the cause of the deaths.[12] Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a probe into the incident. He visited the hospital on 13 August 2017.[13]
The Indian National Congress (INC) demanded a separate probe monitored by the Supreme Court of India.[14]
References
- ^ a b c "Gorakhpur Deaths: Adityanath Government Ignored SOS on Oxygen Payments for Months". The Wire. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
- ^ a b c d "Sharp drop in BRD hospital deaths this year: Govt data". The Times of India. PTI. 3 September 2017.
- ^ "36 children die in last 48 hours at Gorakhpur's BRD medical college". DNA. 29 August 2017.
- ^ Prabhash K Dutta. "Gorakhpur has a history of children's deaths, 25,000 kids have lost lives to encephalitis". India Today.
- ^ Gettleman, Jeffrey; Kumar, Kari (11 August 2017). "30 Children Die in Indian Hospital Over 2 Days; Critics Cite Oxygen Shortage". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ^ a b c d e "Gorakhpur hospital tragedy: Three more children die, toll rises to 63 in five days". scroll.in. 12 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
- ^ a b c "Gorakhpur hospital deaths: Yogi Adityanath, J P Nadda visit BRD as death toll rises to 72". The Indian Express. 13 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ^ Husain, Yusra (12 August 2017). "Gorakhpur hospital deaths: BRD Medical College principal suspended". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ^ Dixit, Pawan. "Gorakhpur deaths: Doctor who was hailed as 'hero' removed from BRD hospital post". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
- ^ "Gorakhpur: Vendor says supply never stopped, thefts likely". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
- ^ Udayakumar, Ganesh Kumar Radha (12 August 2017). "PM Narendra Modi is constantly monitoring situation in Gorakhpur, his office says". India Today. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ^ Sharma, Aman (13 August 2017). "Oxygen doesn't seem to be reason for Gorakhpur children dying: UP Health Minister SN Singh". Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ^ Basu, Snigdha (13 August 2017). "Facing Anger, Yogi Adityanath Visits Gorakhpur Hospital: 10 Points". NDTV. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ^ "Congress Calls For Supreme Court Monitored Probe Into Gorakhpur Deaths". NDTV. 13 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.