Delhi: 13 children dead in 14 days at Maharishi Valmiki hospital

In another case of medical negligence, 13 children have died over the course of 14 days at Maharishi Valmiki hospital in Delhi's Kingsway Camp area. The children, who were suffering from Diphtheria, died due to unavailability of vaccines in the hospital. 

The deceased children were between one-nine years of age. Out of 13 dead, ten were reported to be from western Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor, Bulandshahr, Muzaffarnagar, Amroha, Saharanpur and Greater Noida area. One of the children was from Delhi. 

The Medical Superintendent of the hospital Dr Sushil Kumar denied facing the media when apporached by Zee News team. Dr Gupta, off record, mentioned that the hospital has every facility available to treat the concerned patients. He brushed the accusations by saying that the hospital is fully prepared for conditions like these and further accused the families of deceased of bringing down hospital's reputation. 

It was later found that the the ward where Diphtheria patients were treated was filled with more patients with the same disease. Families of the admitted patients revealed that the hospital is not providing the injection needed for treatment of Diphtheria. The injection which costs 1,200 in the market has been arranged by the family. A total of Rs 12,000 have been spent on buying injections for one patient by the family members. 

A nurse from the hospital confirmed that there are no injections available for treatment.

According to reports, there are still no vaccines in the hospital. 

Officials from Uttar Pradesh's Health Department have met the Medical Superintendent to take stock of the situation.

According to reports, around 200 injections were ordered from Kasauli but they never reached the hospital. 

After the patients' conditions were deteriorating, the authorities asked other hospitals for help. 

Dr Rohit Nirala from RBT Hospital said that there are still 40-45 serious patients in the ward. 

Maharishi Valmiki hospital has till now recieved 326 cases of Diphtheria out of which 44 children have died due to unavailability of medical facilities. 

Last year, around 546 patients were admitted in the hospital out of which 90 died.