Max case: Baby dies, father refuses to take body; case sent to crime branch

A premature baby, who was found alive after being declared dead by Max Hospital, breathed his last on Tuesday with his father refusing to take the body, demanding the arrest of the erring doctors.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police transferred the case related to the shocking incident to its Crime Branch for a detailed probe, a senior official said.

The baby boy died at a nursing home in Pitampura after battling for life for nearly a week.

On November 30, Ashish Kumar's wife gave birth to premature twins (boy and girl) at Max hospital in Shalimar Bagh.

Both the babies were declared stillborn by the hospital and handed over to the family allegedly in a polythene bag. But to their utter horror, the family found that the boy was still alive, while they were on way to do their final rites.

The family rushed the baby to a nearby nursing home in Pitampura, while the mother remained at Max Hospital as she was very weak.

Dr Sandeep Gupta, director of Delhi Newborn Centre where the baby boy died, said it was a "losing battle" from day one.

"On November 30, the baby was brought to the centre and were able to maintain his vitals for a few days. The complications later began and the child had multi-organ dysfunction," he told PTI.

Max Healthcare authorities today released a statement saying, "We just learnt of the sad demise of the 23-week preterm baby, who was on ventilator support."

"Our deepest condolences are with the parents and other family members. While we understand that survival in extreme preterm births is rare, it is always painful for the parents and family. We wish them the strength to cope with their loss," it added.

Aslam Khan, deputy commissioner of police (northwest), also confirmed the news.

However, Kumar has refused to take the body of his child, in an act of protest and demanded that the doctors of Max Hospital allegedly involved in the "medical negligence" in the case be arrested.

"I will not take my son's body until the two doctors are arrested," Kumar told PTI.

He also said he will also not get his wife, who is still admitted at Max Hospital, discharged from it, until they get justice.

The baby's uncle said that they will continue to protest outside Max Hospital.

A panel formed by the Delhi government to look into the case, yesterday found Max Hospital guilty of not following prescribed medical norms in dealing with newborn infants.

Hours after the death of the baby boy, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain held a press conference, where he announced that the final report of the ongoing probe into alleged medical negligence by the private hospital is expected in two days and based on that "strictest action" will be taken.

On December 2, Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain had said the hospital's licence could be cancelled if a probe found it guilty of medical negligence.

Max Healthcare on December 4 had said that it had decided to terminate the services of two doctors allegedly involved in the case.