Nine people died in a short span of 12 hours in the Anantapur government general hospital, reportedly due to various chronic ailments. Opposition parties and social activists raised a hue and cry, charging the hospital authorities with negligence.
All the nine patients were undergoing treatment in the acute medical care ward, according to the hospital authorities.
Anantapur MLA Vaikuntam Prabhakar Chowdary and district Collector G. Veerapandian were among the first to reach the hospital. Hospital superintendent A. Jagannath confirmed that nine patients had died at the hospital in a matter of 12 hours, but refuted the allegation of the Opposition parties. “Out of the nine who died, four were admitted on Tuesday while the remaining have been in-patients for the past few days. The reasons of their death are varied ranging from chronic kidney disease to chronic heart disease to cerebrovascular disease to lung-related ailments and meningitis,” said Dr. Jagannath.
“In fact, three patients admitted on Tuesday were referred by private nursing homes,” said Dr. Jagannath.
One of them, Lakshmi Devi, 25, was brought with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. (ARDS). “We cannot send away patients, no matter what their condition,” Dr. Jagannath explained.
Activists of the Left parties, who staged a demonstration at the hospital and entered into an argument with the Collector on the premises, alleged that the hospital was not equipped to handle specialised cases.
The deceased have been identified as Obanna (95), Sriramulu (65), Sarada (40), Anand (56), Lakshmi Devi (25), Sanjappa (70), Tirupal (55), Ganganna (45) and Chennamma (80), with Chennemma being the last one to die.
