Man's Oxygen Mask Catches Fire In Hospital, Probe Ordered After He Dies

A panel of senior doctors and forensic team will probe allegations of medical negligence against a government hospital here after a 23-year-old died in treatment, officials said.

Family members of the dead claimed Vaibhav Sharma, a resident of Anantpura Talab, died on Wednesday night when an oxygen mask over his face allegedly caught fire after Direct Current (DC) Cardioversion shock treatment and stuck to his neck in ICU.

However, the authorities at New Medical College Hospital, Kota rejected allegations of negligence even as they confirmed that the oxygen mask caught fire. They said the dead was a TB patient with GI perforation in critical condition. He was given CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) an hour earlier before DC shock was administered to revive him, they said.

The incident occurred at around 10 pm on Wednesday night.

The family said Vaibhav's condition started deteriorating around 3 pm, and was admitted to the ICU. He was given oxygen support around 10 pm but when his condition did not improve, he was given DC cardioversion shock.

Vaibhav's brother Gourav claimed his brother's condition was fine after the electric shock treatment and that the medical staff had retired to their room when the oxygen mask suddenly caught fire. Gourav alleged that the medical staff fled and that he had to douse the fire due to which he sustained burn injuries. Meanwhile, Vaibhav sustained burn injuries all over his face and neck as the mask stuck to his face, Gourav said.

NMCH superintendent Dr RP Meena, however, said the patient had already succumbed to death and DC shock was administered after an hour of CPR to revive him.

The dead patient was already suffering from TB with infection in both the lungs and was admitted in critical condition, he said.

Terming fire in oxygen mask after DC shock to be a "rarest of rare" occurrence, the hospital superintendent said the reason behind fire was yet to be ascertained.

Principal of the medical college Dr Sangeeta Saxena said a 4-member committee comprising senior professors of surgery and forensic was formed to probe the incident. Biomedical engineers were also called to look into the incident, she said, adding that a report would be submitted within 24 hours.

Saxena, however, claimed the patient had already died due to his prolonged illness.

Police have lodged a case under section 174 of CrPC to investigate the actual reason of death, DSP Harshraj said.

The relatives of the dead along with some Congress and BJP leaders staged a dharna demanding compensation to the family. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)