Farrukhabad child deaths: Doctors threaten mass leave to protest FIR against colleagues

Doctors of Uttar Pradesh’s Provincial Medical Services (PMS) on Monday threatened to proceed on mass leave to protest the registration of an FIR against some members of the fraternity in Farrukhabad over the deaths of 49 infants in a state-run hospital.

They said they would not report for duty on Tuesday and Wednesday and tender their resignation if the FIR was not withdrawn by September 7.

Earlier in the day, officials said 49 infants died between July 20 and August 21 in the Farrukhabad district hospital, most of them from “perinatal asphyxia”, a condition in which the child cannot breathe properly.

An FIR against the CMO and the CMS was registered on Monday night in Farrukhabad, about 180 km from the state capital.

City magistrate Jaynendra Kumar Jain and SDM Ajit Kumar Singh said a probe found that most deaths were due to breathing problems. They also said in the report that the CMO and the CMS did not cooperate with the investigation.

Members of the PMS held a meeting in Farrukhabad and demanded that the FIR be withdrawn. They threatened to go on mass leave starting tomorrow if their demand was not met.

UPPMS district unit secretary Dr Yogendra Singh said, “The committee comprising the city magistrate and the SDM did not have technical knowledge. The probe report is wrong and it should be withdrawn.”

He said the probe committee was a non-technical one and its “fairness and competence” should be probed.

“We have decided to proceed on mass leave on September 5 and 6. If our demands are not met, all the doctors of the district will resign on September 7,” he said.

UP PMS Association president Dr Ashok Yadav told PTI in Lucknow: “The report on the basis of which the FIR was filed was prepared by non-technical people. A committee of experts should have been set up. This is an attempt to incite doctors, who are working in adverse conditions.”

“The government should recall officers, who did not have any knowledge of probing such cases. They should be properly trained. We are monitoring the situation there and will decide our future course of action,” he said.