A Supreme Court lawyer today served a legal notice on the authorities concerned, seeking action against those responsible for the deaths of several newborns at Ad-Din Hospital in Dhaka, compensation for the affected families, and urgent safety measures in maternity and neonatal wards across the country.
Advocate Ishrat Hasan issued the notice to the secretary of the Health Services Division, the director general of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the director (Hospitals and Clinics) of the DGHS, and the director of Ad-Din Hospital.
The notice said that the recent deaths and illnesses of multiple newborns at the hospital have triggered widespread concern, grief, and outrage nationwide. Referring to media reports and allegations made by parents, she noted that several newborns suddenly fell critically ill late at night, showing symptoms including incessant crying, vomiting, breathing difficulties, and rapid deterioration. Several mothers also reportedly became ill.
The lawyer alleged that despite the critical situation, adequate emergency medical response, round-the-clock monitoring, and immediate treatment support were not ensured, and claimed that the presence and responsiveness of on-duty medical staff were insufficient. She further stated that delays in transferring critically ill newborns to advanced treatment facilities resulted in the tragic deaths of several babies.The incident, she said, exposed serious weaknesses in safety measures, emergency response systems, patient monitoring, and overall healthcare management in maternity and neonatal wards across the country.In the notice, Advocate Ishrat placed four demands: identifying those responsible for the deaths at Ad-Din Hospital and taking departmental and criminal action against them; providing compensation to the affected families; formulating and implementing guidelines to ensure emergency medical response, patient safety, and round-the-clock monitoring in maternity and neonatal wards at all hospitals; and establishing effective monitoring systems or oversight committees to supervise hospital safety, emergency response, quality of care, and overall healthcare services.
She requested the authorities to inform the public within 72 hours about the measures taken in response to the demands.Earlier, a case was filed over the deaths of six newborns, bringing charges of negligence that led to the fatalities.Habibur Rahman, father of one of the newborns, filed the case at Ramna Police Station, without naming any individuals. The hospital authorities have been made the accused.No arrests have been made so far, said Sheikh Zahidul Islam, the Deputy Commissioner of Ramna Division Police.“The complaint did not mention any names. We are investigating who is responsible for the incident,” he told The Daily Star.
