Power failure claims 14 patients

The Hindu reports quoted Director of Medical Education S Geethalakshmi as saying, “they had received 14 bodies from MIOT Hospital and the hospital had told authorities that most of the patients had been in a critical condition and died of natural causes”.

Authorities have shifted the bodies to Royapettah government hospital.

Radhakrishnan explained how the government extended all support to private hospitals including ensuring oxygen supply and shifting of patients from inundated hospitals.

The decision to move patients was taken only on Thursday afternoon, according to details provided by doctors with whom MIOT doctors coordinated.

Instead of shifting the patients using the boats, Radhakrishnan said seven ambulances were organised for the objective. “Only after a detailed probe will we know if there was medical negligence or any other kind of violation which led to the deaths of the patients”, he said.

“After watching the news on television, I rushed here but they told me my mother has been shifted to the Sri Ramachandra Hospital in Porur”.

Meanwhile, with the water receding, Chennai city and its suburbs on Friday battled hard to pick up the pieces of life but occasional heavy rains threatened to cause more flooding as lakhs of people in the worst-hit areas faced acute shortages of essentials, including water, power, milk and food items, PTI reported. “The phone lines were also down”. “The patients had died between December 2 and 3”.

According to a report in The Hindu, the relatives of these patients have claimed that they died because of a lack of electricity, as their critical care systems failed.

MIOT Hospital could not be reached for comment. Soon after the deaths came to light, 575 patients, who were still in the hospital, which is known to draw a large number from the Middle East and African countries, were shifted to various other private and government hospitals.

There were 700 patients in the hospital at the time of the crisis. With power supply yet to be restored, the hospital wore a deserted look and the basement remained flooded with water from the Adyar river.