Dhaka's Ad-din Hospital charged with negligent deaths of newborns

The case is filed against the hospital authority, with no specific person named as suspect

The father of one of the six newborns who died at Ad-din Medical College Hospital has brought charges of medical negligence against the authorities of the private facility, as questions mount over the unexplained deaths at the Dhaka hospital.

Police said the complaint was lodged with Ramna Police on Wednesday.

No individual has been named in the case so far, and no arrests were made immediately following its filing.

The deaths of the six infants inside the hospital’s post-operative ward in the early hours on Wednesday triggered nationwide outrage and prompted multiple investigations into possible technical failures, ventilation problems and lapses in hospital management.

The newborns died in the hospital’s post-delivery ward in the early hours of Wednesday, a day before Eid-ul-Azha.

The deaths sparked public outrage and allegations of negligence, mismanagement, and unsafe conditions at the hospital in Dhaka’s Moghbazar.

Confirming the lawsuit, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner (Ramna Zone) Mazharul Islam said: “Charges have been filed against the hospital authorities in the case.”

“Legal action will be taken based on the information and evidence found in the investigation that the deaths occurred due to the negligence of a person or persons,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Health Minister Sardar Sakhawat Husain Bakul alleged negligence by the hospital authorities.

Although the families of the dead also pointed out negligence, no one has confirmed the exact cause of the deaths.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare formed a three-member committee to investigate the deaths.

The environment inside the post-delivery ward section was “suffocating” with no proper ventilation after the air-conditioning system stopped working, said Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) chief Pravath Chandra Biswas.

Calling the incident “untoward and unusual”, he said 11 mothers were inside the ward at the time, six of whom had their babies with them.

The newborns were aged between 1 and 3 days, while the remaining five babies were undergoing treatment in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

The DGHS chief said there was no ventilation arrangement in the ward with the AC switched off, making breathing difficult in the room.