Nanded hospital deaths: Dean of Nanded hospital charged with culpable homicide following patient deaths

Nanded hospital deaths: Following the tragic deaths of 38 patients, including infants, at a government hospital in Nanded, Maharashtra, the dean and head of the paediatric department have been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder in connection with the death of a 22-year-old woman and her newborn.

Anjali Waghmare was admitted to the hospital on September 30 and delivered her baby the following day. According to the FIR, Waghmare's family was initially informed that it was a normal delivery and that both mother and baby were in good health. However, they were later informed that both were critical.

Waghmare's father, Kamaji Mohan Tompe, stated in his complaint, "The doctors said Anjali was bleeding heavily, and the baby's condition was deteriorating. When we went to give medicines and blood units, the doctor was unavailable. Seeing my daughter's condition and her child's critical state, I met the dean and begged him to provide doctors and treatment. But he kept me waiting outside his room. If the dean and doctors had treated my daughter and her child on time, they would have been alive. We spent ₹45,000 on medicines too."

Dr. Shyamrao Wakode, the dean of the Dr. Shankarao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital, and the head of the paediatric department have been booked under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 34 (common interest) of the Indian Penal Code based on Tompe's complaint.

Additionally, an FIR was filed against Shiv Sena Parliament member Hemant Patil under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Patil allegedly made Wakode clean a toilet after the hospital deaths.

Waghmare's family initially disputed the gender of her baby. Hospital records stated it was a boy, who was among the eleven neonates who died on October 2 when the hospital reported 24 deaths in 24 hours.

Doctors indicated that Waghmare's newborn had meconium aspiration syndrome, and the baby's brain and other organs did not receive sufficient oxygen and nutrients before, during, or immediately after birth.

A six-member committee investigating the deaths cited a lack of resources and manpower at the hospital. Of the 24 patients who died between September 30 and October 1, 17 were referred from private and peripheral government hospitals in critical condition with multiple comorbidities. Among the 24, 11 were neonates on ventilator support. The Bombay High Court expressed doubts about the reasons given for the deaths and took suo motu cognisance of the matter.

- With inputs from agencies

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