SHILLONG, May 16 - More than 100 deaths have occurred at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) since January 2018 till May this year.
This figure was given out today by NEIGRIHMS Director, Dr DM Thapa who quoted medical records and said, �more than 100 deaths have occurred in the Cardiology department� since January 2018.
This suggests that on an average, six patients have died every month at the Cardiology department of NEIGRIHMS from January 2018 till May 2019.
The deaths occurred in the Cardiology department of �either same diagnosis or similar diagnosis.� �Every death is an unfortunate event for us, and as Head of the Institution it is my responsibility to ensure that no patient dies, who otherwise could be saved,� Dr Thapa said.
Commenting on the death of a 52-year-old patient at the Cardiology department for which the Director was blamed by the NGOs here, he said: �It is unfortunate that some people are highlighting the death of this patient for unknown reasons, while there has been several deaths in the department.�
He further said, �some people because of their ulterior motives misguide the people�, which he said, �should not happen.�
According to reports, the Cardiology department, which is at loggerheads with the Director, had sought a high costing device for the patient in the present case.
Dr Thapa added, �the device costing around Rs 25 lakh demanded by the department of Cardiology was never used by the department before, although many patients expired in the past of similar diagnosis.�
The Director has earlier accused that stents and pacemakers were being asked to be purchased by the Cardiology department from private vendors, which should be provided by the Amrit Pharmacy at a low cost.
Amrit Pharmacy at the Institute was established in 2016 with the sole purpose of making the drugs and devices available to the patient at a reasonable cost.
�Most of the drugs and disposables are provided free of cost to the poor patients, however, certain costly items, patients need to purchase,� he informed.
