Hyderabad: Telangana high court has taken a serious view of the death of five infants at the special newborn care unit (SNCU) of RIMS in Adilabad and directed the health department secretary to personally file an affidavit detailing the measures taken to strengthen medical facilities and infrastructure at the hospital.A bench comprising acting Chief Justice P Sam Koshy and Justice Narsing Rao Nandikonda issued the direction while hearing a PIL and posted the matter for further hearing on Nov 5.Senior counsel Chikkudu Prabhakar, appearing for the petitioner, informed the court that five infants had died at the hospital on Sept 21 and contended that the facility lacked adequate critical care infrastructure, including proper ICU support. He told the bench that he had earlier sought urgent intervention from the court following the incident.Taking note of the submissions, the bench directed the authorities to place on record comprehensive details of the steps taken after the deaths, including measures aimed at improving basic infrastructure, enhancing medical facilities and preventing similar incidents.Prabhakar urged the court to request the affidavit from the health secretary rather than officials at the hospital or medical college level. Accepting the request, the bench directed that the affidavit be filed before the next hearing.The court said the affidavit should clearly spell out the operational and infrastructure improvements undertaken at the hospital in the aftermath of the incident.During the hearing, Prabhakar also informed the bench that a PIL filed in 2024 on related issues concerning healthcare facilities remained pending. Referring to earlier high court directions on implementing Supreme Court guidelines, he sought tagging of issues arising from the recent infant deaths with the pending petition for a comprehensive hearing.The bench is expected to take up the matter again on Nov 5 after examining the govt’s response.
