No proof of oxygen supply cut off for 'mock drill': UP's Death Audit Committee on Agra hospital

However, the Committee stated that the administration of the 'Paras Hospital' had misled patients on grounds of lack of oxygen.

File Photo (Reuters)

New Delhi: Ten days after a video of the owner of an Agra hospital went viral in which he is purportedly talking of 'mock drill' that reportedly claimed 22 lives, the Uttar Pradesh's Death Audit Committee has said that there is 'no proof' that the oxygen supply was cut off.  

However, the Committee in its report on Friday (June 18, 2021), stated that the administration of the 'Paras Hospital' had misled patients on grounds of lack of oxygen and discharged them. The report added that Police will take necessary action against the said hospital for violation of Epidemic Diseases Act protocols.

"It is not at all true that 22 patients died after oxygen supply was cut off for a mock drill. No one's oxygen was cut off for a drill nor is there any proof of it. It's misleading information, or else 22 people would have died on April 26," the Death Audit Committee said.

They highlighted that the Paras Hospital was provided with 149 cylinders with 20 in reserve on April 25 and 121 cylinders with 15 in reserve on April 26, which was sufficient for the patients.

"Besides, attendants of some patients had also arranged oxygen from their end...On the basis of symptoms of hypoxia and oxygen saturation levels, a bedside analysis was conducted on every patient. It was found that out of the admitted critical patients, 22 were severely critical. Out of 16 dead, 14 had comorbidities and two didn't," the report stated.

"It has been proved that hospital administration misled patients on grounds of lack of oxygen and discharged them. This is against the Epidemic Diseases Act protocols. Police to take necessary action in this regard," the Committee said. 

Earlier, the Agra administration had sealed the hospital and the Uttar Pradesh health department had initiated a probe into the tragedy after a video of the hospital's owner, Dr Arinjay Jain, had gone viral. 

In the clip, he was heard saying, "During an acute shortage of oxygen... the hospital conducted a mock drill. We stopped the oxygen supply for five minutes around 7 am on April 26. Twenty-two patients started gasping for breath and their bodies began turning blue. Then there were remaining 74 patients and we asked their family members to bring their own oxygen cylinders."

Dr Jain, however, refuted the news reports of 22 deaths and said that they are baseless. Jain said that he is ready to cooperate with any investigation. 

"By mistake or innocence, I mentioned the word 'mock drill' in the video but there was no mock drill as such," Jain added.

(With inputs from ANI)