"Immediate action taken," Madhya Pradesh Dy CM on death of newborn after rat bite in Indore hospital

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], September 3 (ANI): Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister Rajendra Shukla on Wednesday said that immediate action has been taken over the death of a newborn child, who was bitten by rats in an Indore hospital. A high-level committee has been formed to investigate the incident.
He said a fine of one lakh has been imposed on the pest control agency, and a notice of termination has been issued. Shukla said the nursing superintendent has been removed, two nursing officers have been suspended, and a show-cause notice has been given to the HOD of the Paediatrics Department.
Two newborns undergoing treatment at MY hospital located in Indore district were bitten by rats on the intervening night Sunday and Monday. One of the newborns died on Tuesday morning and the other is on the ventilator.
The minister said that the two babies were in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and were in a very critical condition since birth, as they had deficiencies related to the intestine, lungs, and kidneys. He said this was the main reason for one of the newborns dying.
"This is a serious matter, on which immediate action has been taken. Usually, if pest control is done on time, rats would not be present. However, it is clear that pest control was not done. A fine of one lakh has been imposed on the pest control agency, and a notice of termination has been issued. The nursing superintendent has been removed, two nursing officers have been suspended, and a show-cause notice has been given to the HOD of the paediatrics department," he told reporters in Bhopal.
"They (two children) were bitten by rats in the ward, making this negligence clearly visible... A high-level investigation committee has been formed," he added.
He said efforts will be made to ensure that such an incident does not happen again.
MY Hospital Dean, Dr Arvind Ghanghoria, told ANI on
Tuesday that two children admitted in the hospital were bitten by rat and one in the hand and the other on the shoulder.
"Both the infants were critical and suffering from infections. Both the children were very weak, one was operated, who has issues with its intestine and currently the child is critical, on a ventilator. The other was to be operated on as they had a severe infection. This child was also suffering from pneumonia, the rat had bitten its hand and that newborn died this morning. These children were born around a week ago," he said.
He claimed that there were no rats in the hospital for the last two years, and recently a pipe was broken from which the rats came in the last 3-4 days, adding that pest control experts say that due to the rainfall and waterlogging in recent times, the rats came.
"It was our duty to inform the pest control team and nursing superintendent about the rats but the staff on duty did not inform anyone in the last three-four days. Therefore, a show-cause notice has been served to the ICU nursing in charge and two nurses on the duty have been suspended. Also, the nursing superintendent has been removed," he said.
Dr Ghanghoria said the company responsible for pest control in the hospital has been served a penalty of Rs one lakh and warned that the MoU will be terminated and it will be blacklisted. (ANI)