No patient died of oxygen shortage: J&K hospital administration

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Saturday revealed that no patient has died due to oxygen shortage supply at Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences (ASCOM) hospital and here as regular refilling is being undertaken as per demand raised. The statement comes after family members of a COVID-positive woman alleged that she died at the ASCOM hospital, also known as Batra hospital, due to non-availability of the oxygen. A statement issued by the administration said, “Four deaths reported in Batra hospital, Jammu today (Saturday) occurred because of routine medical reasons, not because of shortage of oxygen”.

As far as oxygen supply to Batra hospital is concerned, 253 oxygen cylinders were supplied to it in the last 24 hours and regular replenishment is being undertaken as per the requirement raised, said in a statement uploaded by the Department of Information and Public Relations on its Twitter handle. “The supply of oxygen is being closely monitored,” said the statement.
No patient has died due to a shortage of supply of oxygen even though there is an increasing demand due to a rise in the number of COVID cases, “Please do not pay heed to rumors,” the administration said.

Earlier during the day, relatives of the COVID-positive woman claimed that she died because of the non-availability of medical oxygen, and noisy scenes were witnessed at Batra hospital. One of the protesting relatives of the deceased said, “Our patient was undergoing treatment at the hospital for the past 17 days and died painfully of suffocation due to non-availability of oxygen”.

However, the hospital management denied the charge “Four deaths have taken place today (Saturday) due to various reasons but not because of shortage of oxygen. We have 32 more patients on oxygen support,” hospital, principal, Pawan Malhotra said. He also revealed that the hospital has not taken any new patients for the past three days because of the heavy rush and also gave an option to the admitted patients to take voluntary discharge if they desire to. “The (oxygen) supply is coming regularly and we constantly remain in touch with the government to ensure that there is no shortage of oxygen,” added Malhotra.