An 8-year-old boy, Ayush, died after he was erroneously rendered nitrous oxide, a widely used anaesthetic, to breathe instead of oxygen in the operation theatre of this Indore hospital, police told NDTV.
This is the second case of administering wrong gas in the hospital. Earlier on Saturday, 18-month-old Rajveer was given the wrong'oxygen' in the same operation theatre. His condition is critical.
Following Ayush's death, the contractor, who installed the gas pipes in the modular paediatric operation theatre where the children were treated, was arrested, said the chief of Sanyogitaganj police station in Indore, OS Bhaduria.
The operation theatre has been sealed and FIR has been registered, he added.
A surgeon at the hospital, Sumit Shukla told reporters that there are two separate colour-coded pipes in the operation theatre, one for oxygen and other for nitrous oxide which is extensively used in the field of medicine for its anaesthetic and analgesic effects.
Apparently the pipe meant to supply oxygen yielded the wrong gas, he said.
According to Dr Shukla, the hospital was conducting its own inquiry on the horrible mix-up.
However, some people believe that the hospital has been guilty of gross medical negligence and is evading its responsibility in the matter.
The arrested contractor Rajendra Chadhary said he has been made a scapegoat.
"My job was only to install the pipes. Using those pipes to supply gas was the job of the hospital, " he said.
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