CMO: I was misquoted on babies death case | Lucknow News
Lucknow: An uproar erupted on social media over Gonda CMO Dr Rashmi Verma’s remarks on the death of two newborns at an unregistered private nursing home on Saturday. In a video clip that went viral, the CMO was allegedly heard saying, “One child dies and everyone rushes here. But thousands of children are born alive every day — why don’t you go and distribute sweets for them?”Speaking to TOI, Dr Verma clarified that her remarks were taken out of context, edited, and misinterpreted. “Two newborns died at a private nursing home. At that time, I was away in Nawabganj, so I immediately sent a medical team to the spot. The next morning, Sept 12, around 20–25 journalists came to me asking for a statement. I gave a statement to many of them, and while I was still working, more journalists kept coming in groups, asking for another statement. After giving several statements for 20–30 minutes, I returned to my work. Later, some part of our conversation was recorded without my knowledge, edited, and circulated in a misleading manner,” she explained.Dr Verma said her words were never meant to hurt the grieving families or shield the unregistered nursing home. “I only meant that thousands of babies are born healthy every day, but complications can also occur in some cases. My comment was wrongly projected as if I was mocking deaths or telling people to celebrate with sweets, which is absolutely false.”The remarks, made while journalists questioned her about the incident, drew widespread criticism from local residents, politicians, and civil society members, who termed it “insensitive and inhuman”.Two babies were delivered at a private nursing home in Gonda on Sept 11. The nursing home was running without registration. When the condition of the babies deteriorated, one was admitted to Mohit Kumar of Baragaon Satipurwa admitted his newborn son after delivery at the district women’s hospital and another to ; the baby died during treatment on Sept 11. Vinay Singh of Kotia Madara admitted his newborn son after delivery at Katara Bazaar CHC on Sept 11. Both died within an hour.Following the deaths, the CMO ordered the sealing of the nursing home and a probe was initiated.
