Family celebrates loss of Max Hospital's licence

More than a week after one of the newborn twins of a family was erroneously declared dead by Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, the family heaved a sigh of relief on Friday after the Delhi government cancelled the licence of the hospital for medical negligence.

The 22-week premature baby had died at a nursing home in Pitampura on Wednesday.

The grieving parents of the newborn are now also demanding the immediate arrest of the two doctors involved in the alleged negligence.

"We welcome the Delhi government decision, as we were also demanding the cancellation of the hospital's licence. But why have the two doctors involved in the negligence not been arrested yet, even after being declared guilty by the hospital itself?"asked Ashish Kumar, the child's father.

"We demand the immediate arrest of both doctors. Also, they should be black-listed, so nobody has to go through a similar situation," he said.

Soon after receiving the news of the cancellation, the family members, who have been sitting on strike outside the hospital for the past five days, said that they had never imagined that the government would actually cancel the licence.

"It is a historic decision and it will set an example for all those fraudulent doctors and hospitals who have been playing with the lives of innocent people," said Deepak Kumar, the baby's uncle.

The child's mother Varsha Bidawat, 21, has still not recovered completely. "It will take a lot of time for her to recover from what she has gone through. She is still feeling very weak both physically and mentally," Kumar said.

The family members said that they will meet Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday. "We will meet Mr Kejriwal to express our gratitude for his decision," Kumar added. They will also hold a condolence meet in the memory of their child at India Gate on Saturday evening.

Last Friday, the hospital had handed over the twins it had declared dead to the family in polythene packets. One of them was found alive while being taken to the cremation ground.

DECEMBER HORROR

• Dec 1
  Newborn declared dead by hospital, found alive when taken for last rites
   
• Dec 1
  Delhi Police registers case of attempt to commit culpable homicide against the hospital. Delhi government orders probe
   
• Dec 2
  Delhi Medical Council issued show-cause notice to the hospital. Delhi health minister says if found guilty of medical negligence, hospital’s licence could be cancelled
   
• Dec 3
  The hospital terminates two doctors for negligence
   
• Dec 5
  Initial probe finds hospital “guilty of not having followed prescribed norms”
   
• Dec 5
  Delhi govt says it would form a legal framework to track “criminal negligence” cases
   
• Dec 6
  Newborn passes away
   
• Dec 7
  Family members continue agitation outside the hospital
   
• Dec 8
  Delhi government cancels the licence of the hospital after the probe committee finds it guilty of “medical negligence”.