The Madras High Court on May 9 issued notice to the Tamil Nadu government on a petition seeking constitution of a team of doctors and senior police officials among others to probe the death of five patients at a government hospital.




It also directed the state government to provide fair compensation to the families of those who died at Government Rajaji Hospital on May 8 allegedly after the ventilator support system collapsed due to power outage. When the petition by A Veronica Mary, an activist, came up, a division bench of justices R Swaminathan and M Dhandapani issued notice to the state government, directing it to file a report on its stand on the demand for probe.

The bench also asked the government to file a report on forming a panel to upgrade infrastructure in all government hospitals across the state. The court said both the reports should be submitted on May 29. The petitioner sought a direction to set up a team comprising bio-medical engineers, doctors from AIIMS, professors from IIT, and senior police officials to conduct an investigation into the death of five patients.

She also demanded that a team of electrical engineers be formed to inspect all government hospitals and ensure supply of uninterrupted power to the hospitals. She also claimed that the hospital administration had Rs 25 crore at its disposal, from the chief minister's fund for comprehensive health insurance scheme, but it had failed to utilise it towards maintenance and upgradation of the life- saving infrastructure.

Disruption in power supply allegedly left five patients on life support dead at GRH on May 8. However, hospital authorities said the patients, who were in the ICU, died of natural causes and that it was a sheer coincidence that electricity supply was disrupted at that time. Relatives of the deceased have alleged the ventilators were not working properly.