Jaipur: A clinical evaluation by the state govt of post-delivery fatalities and complications reported from govt hospitals in Kota, Bikaner and Jodhpur since last month has found no common pattern to the cases in terms of either treatment or underlying causes, and has ruled out any direct link to specific drugs, surgical procedures or hospital-acquired infections.The review followed five post-caesarean deaths reported at Kota’s govt-run New Medical College between May 5 and May 17, and two similar fatalities at PBM Hospital in Bikaner on June 19 and June 21. The health and medical education dept examined the cases through committees constituted at New Medical College, Kota, SMS Medical College, Jaipur, and AIIMS, Delhi.The govt’s clinical evaluation is based on the reports of these three committees.According to the health dept, the evaluation concluded that patient health in all cases studied deteriorated due to separate and distinct medical conditions, rather than a common institutional or pharmacological factor.In Kota, an assessment of medical records and diagnostic findings on the five fatalities by a team from AIIMS, Delhi, found each incident to be isolated and with no common link.The cases investigated in Bikaner were found to be high-risk referrals involving eclampsia (pregnancy-related seizures and convulsions), multi-organ failure and complications related to pre-existing diabetes. Here too, no clinical uniformity or link to any institutional practice of specific medication was established.In Jodhpur, the evaluation centred on two patients who exhibited post-caesarean haemorrhage. They were determined to be recognised obstetric complications among women who previously underwent caesarean deliveries or had noncancerous uterine growths, both of which conditions were present in the two cases.“The findings show that the cases of mortality and morbidity across the three institutions were not caused by caesarean deliveries, specific medicines or hospital-acquired infections. The conditions of patients deteriorated due to distinct medical conditions rather than a shared factor,” a senior official in the department of medical education said.In a related development, the drug commissionerate, which is also looking into the Kota, Bikaner and Jodhpur cases, said it has identified various concerns in drug-related practices at the affected medical institutions through surveillance and laboratory testing.Officials said necessary preventive measures have been initiated in this connection, including seizures of drug stocks, recall of medicines and bans on specific drugs.The drug commissionerate said it has also initiated regulatory measures against drug manufacturers found to be at fault, including licence cancellations and legal proceedings.
