Gorakhpur Death Trail Continues: 42 Children in 48 Hours

Two weeks after the death of more than 70 infants left the country horrified, 42 children have died in 48 hours until August 29 at Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical College and Hospital in Uttar Pradesh.

The earlier deaths of infants had occurred over three days since August 10 due to disruption in oxygen supply at the same state-run hospital.

This time, officials said seven children died of encephalitis while the others passed away due to other diseases in the neo-natal intensive care unit and the pediatric intensive care unit.

Former BRD Medical College principal Dr Rajeev Mishra and his wife Purnima Shukla were arrested from Kanpur on August 29 in connection with the earlier deaths.

Mishra was suspended as principal on August 12, a day after the deaths were reported, and the same day Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath set up a probe committee headed by the state chief secretary.

Mishra resigned on August 12, taking moral responsibility for the tragedy.

Mishra and Shukla, a senior homeopathic medical officer at Government Homeopathic Hospital at Gola in Gorakhpur, were among nine people booked in the case following investigation by the state chief secretary.

Dr Kafeel Khan, the former nodal officer of the 100-bed acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) ward at the hospital, was sacked on August 13 on charges of dereliction of duty and other misdemeanours, and was also booked.

But the resident doctors’ association at AIIMS Delhi came out in support of Dr Khan, arguing that he was being made a scapegoat.

Cases were also registered against Dr. Satish, four clerical staff members, and Uday Pratap Sharma, who is the owner of M/s Pushpa Sales – the company responsible for the supply of liquid oxygen at the hospital.

Pushpa Sales had cut off oxygen supply to the hospital on August 10 evening due to non-payment of dues of nearly Rs 65 lakh.

However, the state chief secretary’s report denied that lack of oxygen had caused the deaths.

Even as the ruling Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in UP came under heavy criticism from all over the country, the government maintained that the children died as they were suffering from various diseases, including encephalitis. Adityanath has represented Gorakhpur in the Lok Sabha five times.

The probe team recommended criminal action against Dr Khan, Dr Mishra and the others.

However, two other probing committees gave a clean chit to Dr Khan. One committee was formed by the Gorakhpur District Magistrate, which only found a lack of coordination between Dr Khan and his team. The other was a fact-finding committee of the Indian Medical Association, which absolved both Dr Khan and Dr Mishra of medical negligence charges but did not rule out administrative lapses.