Newborn, whom Max hospital declared dead along with his twin, died during treatment

DAINIK NATION BUREAU

A newborn, who was found alive after being declared dead along with his twin and handed over to his parents in a plastic bag by an Max hospital Delhi has died after a week of treatment. On November 30, the twins were being taken for burial when a movement in one of the packages shocked the family. When the wrapping was opened, the baby boy was found breathing and struggling.

The Max Hospital at Shalimar Bagh in north Delhi is under scrutiny for the outrageous error. The hospital, facing anger and protests, had earlier sacked the two doctors in charge of the twins’ case, AP Mehta and Vishal Gupta.

Survival in extreme pre-term births is rare, Max Healthcare said in a statement expressing grief over the baby’s death.

It would be pertinent to mention here that the other twin was declared still-born after birth on Nov 30. The hospital had told the parents that the other baby needed critical medical care and had to be kept in an incubator. “The hospital said for three days it will cost Rs. 1 lakh each and after that, it would cost Rs. 50,000 each day, and he had to be kept for three months,” a relative said.

While parents were assessing the medical expense then they were told that he had died by the hospital.  But when the parents were debating the costs, they were told that he had died.

Taking cognizance on it, Delhi government had constituted a three-member panel to investigate the matter. Now the committee says the hospital is guilty of not following rules while dealing with newborns