Max fiasco: IMA orders probe after hospital declares living baby dead

On November 30, Max Super Specialty Hospital in Shalimar Bagh, New Delhi, declared a newborn dead in spite of the fact that the baby was alive. Indian Medical Association has asked for a formal investigation into the incident.

 

Pooja Shali  | Edited by Mohak Gupta
New Delhi, December 1, 2017 | UPDATED 19:50 IST
IMA asks for formal investigation into Max Hospital incident Photo: maxhealthcare.in

Highlights

  • 1
    IMA asked for formal investigation into Shalimar Bagh's Max Super Specialty Hospital incident.
  • 2
    IMA asked to inquire as to whether incident was a medical mistake, case of carelessness or criminal intent.
  • 3
    A doctor said immediate suspension of license of doctor is not a protocol in such instances.

Indian Medical Association (IMA) has asked for a formal investigation into Shalimar Bagh's Max Super Specialty Hospital incident.

IMA has asked to inquire as to whether the incident was a medical mistake, a case of carelessness or criminal intent.

THE CASE

The bone-chilling incident took place on November 30 after a 20-year-old woman per-maturely gave birth to a set of twins at Max Super Specialty Hospital.

One of them was still-born, the news of which was given to the young parents by the hospital authorities.

An hour later, the Max Hospital told the couple that the second baby too had died.

Hospital staff then wrapped the two bodies in paper and prepared two packets - one each for the two babies. The packets were placed in two bags which were handed to the parents.

As the parents were taking the bodies to the burial ground, they sensed some movement inside one of the bags.

It was only then that the parents realised that one of the newborn babies was alive. According to Max's statement, the baby is currently reported to be on life support at a nursing home.

INDIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION INTERVENES

Indian Medical Association (IMA) has asked for an investigation into the case.

Dr KK Aggarwal, president of IMA said, "This appears to be a case of medical mistake. If an infant is suffering from hypothermia, a doctor cannot declare dead. There are specifications to check rectal temperature or bring the body temperature back to normal because in hypothermia a child can appear dead."

Medical experts say, most premature babies get hypothermia and not respond to movements. A doctor without fair amount of experience may fail to see the possibility of reviving the child. The newborn is not declared dead unless CPR is conducted to bring the temperature to normal.

"The inquiry will enable to find out whether this doctor was competent to be on the case to certify death. Was he trained enough and had enough experience?" said the IMA president.

Dr Aggarwal added that the immediate suspension of license of the doctor is not a protocol in such instances.

He said a possible action that can be taken is the that family can be compensated (financially). He further added that the medical council can suspend license or send doctor for re-training. In case of carelessness or criminal intent a case of negligence can be filed.

IMA recommends audit of deaths for future to explore if a specific incident was avoidable or to research on causes of death of newborn children.

Dr Aggarwal said, "There are almost one lakh cases which come up annually, where such medical mistakes like these happen. This is a system failure. With this mistake, there is a need to ensure improvement in the system and focus on how to reduce the number of medical blunders."