Mumbai: Three weeks after a three-month-old baby, Prince Rajbhar, succumbed to burn injuries at the King Edward Memorial Hospital, the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) will now investigate the matter.
Senior official said they have formed a six-member committee to investigate the matter and submit a report within 15 days.
This comes after the family demanded a fair investigation in the matter and stipulated that the probe panel should not include any BMC hospital personnel.
“Earlier, we had conducted an inquiry which revealed the baby’s death was accidental and no one was involved. But the family was not happy with the investigation report, so we transferred the case to the DMER,” said an official.
The six-member team comprises experts from forensic medicine, paediatrics, biomedical engineering, the medical superintendent of JJ hospital and two others.
Dr Tatyarao Lahane, director, DMER, said they had received a letter from the BMC, asking them to set up a committee and investigate the matter fairly.
“On Friday, we received a letter from the deputy municipal commissioner of the BMC, asking us to investigate the Prince Rajbhar matter and file a report. So we have set up a six-member committee with experts from various fields,” he said.
Prince was admitted to the hospital for a congenital heart defect on November 5. On November 7, an ECG cable attached to a multi-parameter monitor caught fire in the paediatric intensive care unit, causing the baby to suffer burns on his left arm, shoulder, and scalp.
Doctors had to amputate a portion of his arm to prevent infection. But eventually, the baby succumbed to septicemia shock resulting from the burns, on November 22.
