Woman, newborn die in hospital

COIMBATORE: Barely three weeks after a government doctor was murdered in Thoothukudi district following the death of a pregnant woman under her care, another case of alleged medical negligence was reported at the Coimbatore Corporation dispensary where a young woman and one of her two newborns died leading to protest on Wednesday.The agitators, largely comprising councillors, cadre of political parties and the deceased’s relatives, demanded that the government doctor who had treated the 26-year-old Sridevi be transferred. Sridevi’s relatives alleged that the doctor of the Corporation dispensary at Ganapathy, had not informed them that she was carrying twins.Sridevi was admitted to the dispensary on Monday after she developed labour pains. “The duty doctor was not in the hospital. The nurses attended to her. We learnt that Sridevi had delivered a second child only when the nurses hurriedly made calls to the ‘108’ ambulance service to shift the mother and newborns to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) as they developed health complications,” alleged her husband Santhosh Kumar. One of the babies and Sridevi died at the CMCH . Following this Sridevi’s relatives staged protest. CMCH Resident Medical Officer Dr Sivaprakasam said:  “Exact cause for the deaths could not be ascertained as the patient was admitted in our hospital only at the last minute. The relatives also declined permission to conduct an autopsy.”