There were procedural lapses, but no medical negligence at the Shalimar Bagh unit of Max Hospital where one of the twins prematurely born had been wrongly declared dead, a committee of the Delhi Medical Council (DMC) said in its order on May 2.
The DMC, a statutory body that governs the practice of modern medicine in the state and takes action against erring doctors in case of medical negligence, had taken up the probe in the case suo motu.
Last year on November 30, a 20-year-old woman delivered twin foetuses in the hospital in the 23rd week (or five months) of her pregnancy.
It was a girl and a boy; the girl was born around 7.35 am, followed by the boy at 7.42 am. The hospital declared the girl dead immediately after birth while the boy was said to be critical.
At 12:30 pm the duty doctor could not find a heartbeat and had asked a senior to take a look. However, by the time the senior came, the bodies had been handed over to the family.
The babies had been wrapped in clean white sheets, as per protocol. The family requested for the poly-bags for the ease of carrying. On their way to perform last rites, the family noticed movement in one of the packets. On opening it, they found that the boy was breathing and took him to hospital. The family also registered a case of medical negligence against the hospital.