Shobha Karandlaje accuses Karnataka govt of ‘hiding’ maternal death figures

Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje on Saturday accused the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government of “hiding” the actual maternal death figures in Ballari district, saying that the glucose given to mothers after c-section was “fake”, PTI reported.
Karandlaje demanded a probe into the matter and sought action against state health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao.
In just a week, four women had died in the Ballari district hospital, while another lost her life in the region’s Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS), she said.
The Union Minister demanded compensation for the victims’ families and said, “Siddaramaiah government is hiding figures. Immediately, there should be an inquiry and action should be taken against Minister Rao.”
She further noted that the glucose that was administered to the victims after cesarean (C-section) was “fake”.
“Ringer Lactate glucose was supplied by Paschim Banga Pharmaceutical Ltd. This glucose has been banned. It was said by the department not to give it. Even then it was used and women lost their lives,” she alleged.
There have been concerns in the city over the possibility of substandard Ringer Lactate solution being linked to the maternal deaths in Ballari. Amid this situation, the use of the solution has been suspended in all government hospitals as a precautionary measure, Gundu Rao had said earlier in the day.
“If around 30 women and 111 children have died in only three-four districts, then how many deaths must have occurred in the entire state?,” Karandlaje asked, accusing the Siddaramaiah government of hiding the exact figures of maternal deaths.
Health department officials had reported a sudden increase in maternal deaths at the Ballari district hospital between November 9 and 11, after C-section operations.
Of the 34 cesarean procedures conducted during these two days, seven patients experienced complications, including acute kidney injury requiring dialysis and multi-organ dysfunction, the health department’s statement said.
Four of the affected patients died, two have been discharged, and one is undergoing treatment at VIMS, it added.
Karandlaje said that a committee from the Rajeev Gandhi University had visited the Ballari hospital and submitted a report.
“That report was also hidden….in every hospital, there are issues, corruption, lack of staff, no medicines,” she alleged.
She called the Congress government “ruthless” and “cruel” and asked, “the Paschim Banga Pharmaceutical Ltd belongs to whom and why medicines were being bought from them?”
“To whom these were supplied. How many districts were these (medicines) supplied and how many deaths have happened in each districts,” Karandlaje asked.
Further, the union minister alleged that the District Health Officers had been instructed to hide the exact figures of deaths of women and children.
(with PTI inputs)