Kalaburagi: A five-member committee of doctors has been formed to conduct an investigation after Chittapur MLA Priyank Kharge accused the district administration and the government of a cover-up in connection with the deaths of eight COVID-19 patients, allegedly due to the non-availability of ventilators at the ESIC Hospital in the district.
As per reports, the eight patients, who died on Tuesday, were being treated at the ESIC Hospital and were in need of ventilator support. Due to a lack of ventilators at the hospital, the eight patients were supposedly moved to the Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) and they passed away on Tuesday.
MLA Kharge, in a series of tweets to the state health minister, posted a video of a deceased woman’s son who alleged that the family was not informed that the woman was being moved to GIMS. He claimed that the authorities at the ESIC Hospital said when asked, that his mother was moved due to the non-availability of oxygen.
Following the allegations, district Deputy Commissioner B Sharath formed a committee of five doctors from two private hospitals to probe the allegations. They have been given three days’ time to submit a report, as per TOI’s report.
The DC also clarified that according to ESIC director Nagaraj, not all the eight patients died due to non-availability of ventilators. Age factor and other ailments were also a cause, he added.