11 children died at hospital from September 6-19.
The committee formed to probe the lapses that led to the deaths of children at Maharishi Valmiki Infectious Diseases Hospital, has found that the medical superintendent did not make adequate arrangements to ensure that patients were administered with anti-diphtheria serum.
The committee, comprising doctors from hospitals like Kasturba Gandhi, RML and senior officials, has found that medical superintendent Sushil Kumar Gupta did not inform his seniors about the non-availability of serum, said officials privy to the investigation. Eleven children died due to diphtheria between September 6 and 19 at the hospital, allegedly due to non availability of the serum.
“On September 11, 2017, 1,000 vials of the serum were purchased from Kasauli’s Central Research Institute (CRI) and on September 13, 2017, 400 viles were purchased,” the official said.
The superintendent had informed the Union Health ministry about the non availability of serum and had started the tender process for procuring the medicine from private agencies, but it could not be executed. Gupta had even gone to Kasauli in February this year. The superintendent was suspended on September 26. When contacted, Gupta said he had informed the director health administration about the incident and a file had been sent to him
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation, in response to a question by Leader of Opposition Anil Lakra, had earlier stated that besides CRI, the anti-diphtheria serum is produced by Haffkine Bio-pharmaceutical Corporations Limited in Pimpri, Maharashtra, and VINS Bioproducts Limited in Mahbubnagar, Telangana.
This comes at a time when a budget of Rs 38 crore was allocated under the ‘non-plan’ head for purchasing medicines in North Corporation hospitals, out of which Rs 18 crore has been spent, according to the figures.
Besides, Maharishi Valmiki, the North body runs the Bara Hindu Rao Hospital, Kasturba Gandhi Hospital, Giridhari Lal Hospital and Rajan Babu Institute of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis.
Diphtheria is an infectious bacterial disease that affects the throat and upper airways, and also produces a toxin that affects other organs. According to the World Health Organisation, the disease can be fatal in 5-10% cases. While more than 330 children have been admitted and 48 have died of the disease this year, the last fortnight has seen a spike in deaths.