Jaipur: Three investigation committees have submitted their final findings to the state govt on the five maternal deaths in Kota, even though nearly 10% of critical drug sample test reports are still awaited — leaving the probe submission incomplete and effectively redundant.When contacted senior officials confirmed to TOI that several lab reports on the 24 seized medicine samples have not yet been received. They also conceded that failure to include the lab reports on the efficacy of these drugs could impact the final cause of death of the women.Kota’s New Medical College reported five maternal deaths in May — Payal on May 5, Jyoti on May 7, Priya on May 9, Pinki on May 10 and Shirin on May 17 — along with kidney-failure incidents, triggering major outrage.Committees from AIIMS Delhi, SMS Medical College Jaipur and New Medical College Kota were mandated with conducting the probe into the postpartum deaths.Of the 24 samples, 14 were supplied under the state’s free medicine scheme by Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation Limited, while nine were procured locally by the hospital.TOI reported on May 11 that the probe was delayed because the drug samples were sent outside the state for testing. The samples were dispatched to Kolkata for analysis. Senior health officials said most of the reports received so far cleared the drugs administered to the women, except oxytocin injections, which investigators claimed could not have caused the fatal complications.While all five women died due to similar postpartum complications, the govt, as well as the three probe committees, denied a common cause of death. These included pulmonary embolism, multi-organ failure resulting from hypovolemia, cardiac problems, postpartum haemorrhage, and, in the case of a four-month pregnant woman, stitches being applied despite a uterine infection, which led to her death.Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot demanded that chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma immediately suspend the officials and doctors responsible for the Kota tragedy, register criminal cases against them, provide prompt compensation to the affected families, and ensure that the govt bears the full cost of treatment and kidney transplants for the affected women.
