Max Hospital had handed over the bodies to the family in plastic bags
The licence of an upscale Delhi hospital, which incorrectly declared a baby dead along with his still-born twin and handed over the bodies to the parents in plastic bags, can be cancelled if it is found guilty, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said today.
A preliminary report is expected to arrive by Monday evening and the health department will issue the detailed report within a week, the minister said. The inquiry was ordered yesterday by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The twins, born on Thursday morning at a Max Hospital in north Delhi's Shalimar Bagh, were being taken for burial about six hours after they had been handed over to the family when their parents realized, to their complete shock, that one of the babies was squirming in its package. "They handed us both bodies wrapped like a courier package from the back door. After we travelled three km, we felt a movement in one (bag). We ripped it open, found bits of plastic and the baby inside, breathing," said Kailash, the baby's grandfather.
The surviving twin, the parents were told, needed critical medical care and had to be kept in an incubator. "The hospital said for three days it will cost Rs. 1 lakh each and after that it would cost 50,000 each day, and he had to be kept for three months," said a relative.
As the family decided to go to a smaller hospital, it was told that the second baby was also dead.
The family says they were not provided a death certificate, a prerequisite while discharging bodies to families. Sources at Max Hospital have told NDTV that according to the patient folder, the baby was declared dead.
The child's mother, Varsha, told NDTV, "We were made to sign an undertaking that there were no chances of survival but as long as there is a heartbeat, my son should receive medical treatment and we would bear all expenses."
Max Healthcare said the doctor responsible for the blunder had been sent on leave.