Max Hospital Shalimar Bagh said the doctor responsible for the blunder had been sent on leave.
Highlights
- Delhi Police has asked Max Hospital to be available for questioning
- Baby boy declared dead along with stillborn twin, was found alive later
- Hospital said the doctor responsible for blunder has been sent on leave
A private hospital in Delhi has been asked by the police to be available for questioning after
the hospital incorrectly declared a baby dead along with his still-born twin and handed over the bodies to the parents in plastic bags last week. The Delhi police has sent a notice to Max Hospital in north Delhi's Shalimar Bagh, asking for detailed information of the incident.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, on Saturday, said the hospital's licence can be cancelled if it is found guilty. 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. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered an inquiry on Friday.
The twins, born last Thursday morning at the hospital, 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.