Nine die in Anantapur government hospital within 24 hours

ANANTAPUR: As many as nine patients died within a span of 24 hours creating panic at Anantapur government hospital on Wednesday.
The patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) started to die one after the other from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning. Tension prevailed at hospital after local leaders from left parties staged protest against the deaths.
However, the hospital authorities clarified the deaths were due to serious chronic diseases.
Speaking to the TOI hospital superintendent Jagannatha Rao informed the patients who died were referred by the private hospitals after they lost hope of reviving them.
Rao said there were 1172 inpatients in the hospital and death toll is not even one per cent, which is well below normal rate by any standards as many cases come to government hospital in the critical stage.
He denied the allegation of lack of facilities or negligence of doctors.
Anantapur collector G Veerapandyan rushed to the hospital after the news about the de aths broke out.
He reviewed the situation at the hospital and said the deaths were happened due to normal reasons.
Speaking to the TOI he also informed that an average death toll of 5 to 7 in any government hospital of the size of Anantapur hospital is a normal thing.
He said the UNICEF team which has visited the hospital on Wednesday expressed happiness over the facilities being extended to the patients. He said there was no medical negligence.
The health minister Kamineni Srinivas sought a detailed report on the incident.