Jaipur, Oct 5 (IANS): Questions are mounting over accountability in the Kota maternal deaths case after senior doctors, suspended following the deaths of several new mothers and kidney failure among other women, were reinstated.
The doctors had faced action amid findings of serious treatment and protocol lapses, but enquiry committees set up by the Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma-led Rajasthan government, have now reportedly given them a clean chit, raising a crucial question: If there was no negligence, why were they suspended and if serious lapses did occur, who is responsible?
The sequence has triggered a fundamental question in Rajasthan: If there was no medical negligence, why were senior doctors suspended in the first place and if serious lapses were identified, who is accountable for the deaths and debilitating complications suffered by the patients?
The Kota maternal death case has once again come under scrutiny following the reinstatement of three senior doctors of Kota Medical College including Dr. B.L. Patidar, Dr. Khushbu Meena and Dr. Navneet Kumar.
The three were suspended in May after the deaths of new mothers and reports of kidney failure among other post-delivery patients.
Four enquiry committees from Kota, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Delhi have now reportedly found no medical negligence attributable to the doctors, paving the way for their reinstatement.
However, the clean chit has opened more questions than it has closed. The government’s initial response in May was unequivocal. Inspections and preliminary enquiries reportedly flagged failures in treatment protocols, absence of senior doctors in the post-gynaecology ward, problems inside the operation theatre, sanitation concerns and questions surrounding medicines and emergency facilities.
On May 11, Medical Department Principal Secretary, Gayatri Rathore, reportedly acknowledged that a preliminary enquiry had found shortcomings in adherence to protocols in the operation theatre.
Dr. B.L. Patidar and Dr. Khushbu Meena were suspended over alleged negligence in treatment and supervision. Action was also initiated against nursing staff and hospital officials.
Now, months later, the doctors have been cleared. That is the question the government must answer publicly.
The initial investigation had reportedly thrown up a disturbing list of issues. Excessive fluids and antibiotics were allegedly administered to women after childbirth. Dampness and fungal growth were found in the post-gynaecology ward and Operation Theatre.
Questions were also raised over alleged fumigation before culture samples were collected. Culture samples from the ward and OT reportedly failed twice.
On May 11, when the condition of a patient identified as Pinky deteriorated, an ambulance equipped with a ventilator was reportedly unavailable. Another inspection on May 17 reportedly found filth and fungal growth in the gynaecology ward.
Then, on May 26, the Drug Department reportedly found an Oxytocin injection sample to be substandard. Yet the final outcome has now cleared the three suspended doctors of medical negligence.
For the families of the five women who died, the controversy is not an administrative file. For women such as Ragini Meena, Aarti, Dhanni, Pinky and Sushila, who reportedly suffered kidney failure after childbirth, the consequences continue.
The women have demanded that the government make the enquiry committee and forensic reports public and explain what caused their kidney failure.
They reportedly remain dependent on dialysis and have described severe physical and psychological distress, including episodes of temporary vision loss. Their demand is simple: Tell them what happened and who is responsible. The investigation is not entirely over.
Samples of nine medical devices from the new hospital were reportedly sent to a laboratory in Kolkata for testing. Their reports are still awaited.
That makes the government’s responsibility to maintain transparency even more important. Patients’ relatives said that the government cannot allow the issue to end with the reinstatement of three doctors.
If the doctors were wrongly suspended, the government must explain why such serious action was taken on the basis of the initial findings. If the initial findings were correct and there were genuine failures in treatment, hospital management, sanitation, medicines, emergency response or adherence to protocols, then who will be held accountable, they added.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Chief Secretary V. Srinivas recently directed officials to strengthen emergency transportation arrangements for pregnant women, particularly those with high-risk pregnancies.
Officials have been asked to improve coordination between maternal healthcare services and ambulance operations and regularly review ambulance utilisation.
The measures are important, but they do not answer the central question arising from Kota. Five women died. Others were left facing prolonged kidney treatment. Doctors were suspended, then reinstated. Reports remain pending.
The Rajasthan government now owes the patients, their families and the public a clear answer as relatives of new moms, who have left their kids orphaned due to system failure, ask who ultimately, is responsible for the maternal deaths.
