Delhi's Max Hospital That Declared Twin Foetuses Dead, Quoted Rs 50 Lakh To Keep Them Alive

Even as Delhi Police on Saturday started an investigation into the case of a city hospital declaring two new-born babies dead when one was discovered later to be alive, the family filed an FIR making fresh allegations against the hospital.

The father of the twins, Ashish (26), states in the FIR that Max Hospital in Shalimar Bagh told him that the two foetuses his six-month pregnant wife, Varsha, was carrying had only 10-15 per cent chances of survival. The hospital advised three injections costing Rs 35,000 and claimed later that the probability of survival had risen to 30 per cent. He also alleged that the hospital said the bill for keeping the surviving baby in the nursery till it was out of danger would be Rs 50 lakh.

PTI

"Max hospital made a big mistake in not carrying out proper treatment of my babies, declaring them dead while (one was) alive and packing them in a parcel," the father said in the FIR.

"On the basis of the father's complaint, we have registered the FIR under Section 308 of the Indian Penal Code for culpable homicide not amounting to murder," Dr Sagar Preet Hooda, joint commissioner (Northern Range) told TOI. "We will take the opinion of medical experts on whether the three injections were required. We are currently collecting relevant documents and checking the hospital records."

Asked by TOI for its response to the allegations, Max Healthcare stated late on Saturday night, "We have initiated a detailed enquiry, pending which the doctor concerned has been asked to proceed on immediate leave."

ALSO READ: Delhi Hospital Declares Newborn Twins Dead, Family Finds One Alive Just Before Cremation

Police sources confirmed that copies of the treatment documents were seized from Max Hospital and Aggarwal Hospital where the surviving baby is undergoing treatment. The cops have also obtained a copy of the death register of Max Hospital in which under serial number 2562, it reads: "Two foetuses of Ms Varsha were handed over to attendant family namely Praveen, a resident of Kirari, at 13.00 hrs on 30-1-2017."

PTI

Ashish, who runs a business of repairing water purifiers, said the family lives in Nihal Vihar and his 20-year-old wife suffered terrible pain on November 27. "I rushed her to the Attam Nursing home in Paschim Vihar. A day later, the nursing home referred Varsha to Max Hospital, where she was admitted around noon," he narrated.

Ashish claimed the doctors at Max told him that there were two foetuses in the womb and the chances of their survival were slim. "However, they started treatment and asked us to get three injections costing Rs 35,000, after which they said the chances had become 30 per cent," Ashish stated in the FIR.

On November 29, the doctors said Varsha needed to be operated upon after beginning to bleed. The father revealed that the first baby was delivered around 7.30am on November 30 and the second at 7.42. The first was alive at birth and the second, the doctors announced, had died.

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pregnancybirthbaby/Representational Image

"The doctors said that if they kept the surviving baby in the nursery, it would cost us around Rs 50 lakh. We were discussing this when the doctors informed me that the baby had died," said Ashish, according to the FIR. "They asked us for identity proof before handing over the bodies. Varsha's father, Praveen, give them his ID card." The bodies, wrapped in a polythene package, were handed over to them.

At Madhuban Chowk near Rohini, when the family was driving towards the crematorium, some members sensed movement in the polythene parcel. They opened the package to find one baby alive. "We immediately rushed to the nearby Aggarwal Hospital in Pitampura and had the baby admitted there," said Ashish. "We cremated the girl child as she was confirmed to be dead."

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