Deaths at Gorakhpur hospital this year lesser than 2016, says doctors panel

The number of deaths of children at the BRD Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur, which is in the eye of a storm, this year was lesser than that of previous year, a panel of doctors from Delhi has said in its interim report.
The panel had gone to Gorakhpur to look into the deaths of children and has submitted the report to the additional health secretary of the central government.
Nearly 70 children, including infants, have died at the hospital since August 7 due to various causes including encephalitis. Many of these deaths were alleged to have been caused by shortage of oxygen, a claim dismissed by the Uttar Pradesh government.

"We have submitted an interim report to the additional health secretary where we have mentioned that the deaths that happened this year were lesser than the previous year in the same period. We will submit our final report after analysing the entire data sought from the hospital administration," one the doctors on the panel said.
The team said that 200 deaths were reported at the state-run hospital in July this year as compared to 292 deaths during the same period last year.
The three-member panel comprises Harish Chailani, HOD of paediatrics at the Safdarjung Hospital, Sushma Nangia, HOD of neo-natal department at the Lady Hardinge Hospital and M K Agarwal, deputy commissioner of National Immunisation Programme.