Madurai hospital horror: Dean says 3 deaths in ICU in an hour only a coincidence

MADURAI: Minutes after one of the state’s largest medical facilities, Government Rajaji Medical College and Hospital, plunged into darkness after a power outage around 6.20pm on Tuesday, three patients being treated in the intensive care unit died. The two generators attached to ward 101, which were to switch on automatically, did not function. Relatives said patients died because of lack of oxygen supply through t ventilators.

Hospital dean K Vanitha, who ordered an internal inquiry, denied the deaths were connected to the power.The ventilators were equipped with batteries that offered uninterrupted power for at least 90 minutes, she said. “We have asked doctors from the neurosurgery department and officials from the public works department and biomedical engineers to submit a detailed report on the incident,” she said.
Relatives are mourning the death of victims who died due to power disruption at GRH

A senior doctor in the neurosurgery department told TOI that the battery backup wore off and six of the patients on ventilator support had to be given manual resuscitation for up to 20 minutes during the one hour outage. Doctors identified the patients who died as M Malliga, 58, of Melur in Madurai district, P Palaniammal, 60, of Oddanchatram in Dindigul and K Ravinderan, 52, from Srivilliputtur in Virudhunagar, all of who were on ventilator.
Hospital trying to cover up lapses, alleges relative
Mallika was being treated for swelling of a blood vessel in the brain after a surgery at a private hospital; Palaniammal was brought in with head injuries in a road accident. Ravinderan had suffered head injuries after a fall.
The three patients were declared dead between 6.20pm and 7.20pm. Their relatives, who were waiting outside the ward, watched helplessly as doctors, post-graduates and nurses moved about with torch lights and flashlights on mobile phones. “In 10 minutes, the three were dead. We were informed about it before 7pm. Two bodies were sent to the mortuary first, then the third one. We were asked to leave the room,” said A Ganesan, son-in-law of Malliga. “The hospital is trying to cover up its lapses.”
Some relatives said the doctors misled them, saying the patients were responding well to treatment. “I was told he was doing better,” said Ravinderan’s brother-in-law A Maricholan. “How did he suddenly die? How can three patients die around the same time?” he said.
An attendant uses a hand-fan to help a patient at the Madurai Rajaji hospital on Wednesday
A senior neurosurgeon at the hospital said all the three patients had brain damage. “The relatives were frequently told that their condition was critical even when they were stable. The nine ventilators, in the ward, mostly imported, were all functional during the outage. “After the outage, we heard beep sounds indicating low charge. We gave them oxygen manually. But before that the three patients had suffered severe complications of brain damage. Three other patients in the same ward are alive,” he said.
Dean Vanitha said three deaths in quick succession was a coincidence. “At least four to five deaths happen a day in the trauma care ward as many of them are in a critical condition,” she said.
Health secretary Beela Rajesh told TOI said the preliminary report from the dean did not indicate power failure led to the deaths. “It says cardiac arrest was the cause of deaths. There were 11 patients on ventilators at that time,” she said.