The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) administration said on Monday that it had decided to set up an eight-member committee to investigate the death of a pregnant nurse due to alleged medical negligence, even as the Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) protested against the suspension of five doctors.
The AIIMS panel will be headed by Dr. S. C. Sharma, head of the ENT department. The committee will also have two members from outside AIIMS.
Suspension orders remain
The administration also said that after lengthy discussions with both the Nurses’ Union and the RDA, no further decision has been taken concerning the suspension of five AIIMS doctors. The decision to suspend the doctors was taken on Sunday after over 300 nurses held a protest march.
The RDA, however, has denounced the suspension orders and is demanding an immediate roll back.
“The RDA strongly condemns this action and urges the administration to withdraw the suspension immediately, failing which the resident doctors will be forced to withdraw all patient care with immediate effect,” the RDA said.
‘Against SC order’
“The AIIMS administration suspended five doctors without inquiry and under pressure from a mob of nursing officers. This suspension is clearly against judgement of Supreme Court orders, which says that no action will be taken against doctors unless proved guilty after final submission of a committee report. This shows immaturity and incompetence of our system, which works under mob pressure. The AIIMS residents are frightened and we held a protest on Monday to help us save our rights,” said Dr. Vijay Gurjar of the RDA.
Sukhlal Jat, a member of the Nurses’ Union, said that the deceased nurse, Rajbir Kaur, was admitted to the hospital for a normal delivery on January 16. During treatment, she lost her baby and was put on life support. She died on Saturday night.
“Ever since her baby died, the nursing union had been protesting against the administration for not taking note of the issue, and punishing the errant doctors,” said the union representative.
According to RDA officials, the five doctors, who were on duty in the operation theatre, had decided to perform a caesarean surgery on Kaur as there were some complications. The nurse suffered a cardiac arrest during the surgery, leading to more complications, a senior RDA official said.
