Five die at Hisar hospital, kin allege oxygen shortage

HISAR: Five Covid-19 patients on ventilator support died at a private hospital here on Monday morning, allegedly after their oxygen supply ran out. This incident happened within 24 hours of two similar incidents in Haryana.
Police said they were verifying the allegations of oxygen shortage after relatives of some of the deceased held a protest outside the facility. Cops were deployed in and around the hospital to prevent any untoward incident. Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar ordered a magisterial inquiry into the matter, in addition to the medical board ordering one.
Three of the patients who died at Soni Hospital hailed from Hisar district, one belonged to Delhi and one was from Punjab.
The hospital administration claimed that the district administration had been alerted in the morning about only 30 minutes of oxygen left. Although officials of the district administration reached the oxygen plant after receiving the message, all five patients died in around an hour of the message being sent by the hospital.
Brother of the Mansa youth who died alleged that the hospital administration made him deposit money for expenses other than hospital fees at 10 am every morning and did not supply oxygen due to a slight delay. He said when the oxygen cylinder ran out on Sunday night, he arranged one from another hospital but the doctor did not put it on.
‘Prelim probe does not show death due to lack of oxygen’
A family member of another patient alleged that the hospital told him that Remdesiver injection was being sold in the black market and he bought six for Rs 25,000 each. He also claimed that the staff on night duty preferred to sleep instead of attending to the patients.
Dr Rajat Soni of the hospital denied the allegations, saying he had repeatedly asked the district authorities for oxygen. He said the hospital vehicle was waiting outside the oxygen plant for a refill and that he, along with the relative of a patient, had gone to another hospital for an oxygen cylinder.
DC Priyanka Soni said preliminary investigations did not show that patients died due to lack of oxygen. “Orders have been issued for a magisterial inquiry in addition to the medical board,” the DC said.