OMAG 'baffled' by 'no oxygen shortage deaths' comment

A day after the Centre told the Parliament that no Covid-19 deaths due to lack of oxygen were specifically reported, the medical fraternity is left baffled with a body of doctors saying it is akin to the film 'No One Killed Jessica".

The Organised Medicine Academic Guild (OMAG), which is the federation of medical organisations, said the global community is disillusioned with Minister of State for Health Dr Bharti Pawar’s statement.

“The statements are factually not incorrect on the face of it. The situation is akin to the movie “No One Killed Jessica!,” OMAG secretary general Dr IS Gilada and president Dr Suneela Garg said in a press statement.

The OMAG has appealed to the ICMR, which has been at the helm of the affair since the pandemic began, to clear the air so that the blame game stops, as finally the entire blame gets shifted to the medical community.

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According to him, there is no denying that “Detailed guidelines for reporting of deaths have been issued by the Union health ministry to all states/UTs” but what has been actually sent, is an eye-opener.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR) document "Guidance for appropriate recording of Covid-19 related deaths in India” at page 6 categorically mentions that Asphyxia, Respiratory arrest/Failure and Respiratory Failure among others cannot be mentioned as cause of death.

Said Dr Gilada: “The minister’s statement that, “...no deaths due to lack of oxygen have been specifically reported by states/UTs” isn’t incorrect either.”

Following the national guidelines and state SOPs, no doctor will or can mention ‘Hypoxia’ or ‘Respiratory Arrest’ or ‘Respiratory Failure’ as cause of death. As doctors, we have been always told to avoid mentioning Mode of Dying as Cause of Death. Mode of dying merely tells you that death has occurred and is not specifically related to the disease process.

“Doctors have to record underlying cause of death in the Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD) Form 4 (institutional deaths) / 4A (non-institutional deaths); which is submitted to the Office of Registrar General, India (ORGI). The ORGI records and collates data but cannot change it.

“In any case, cause of death is never given as the patient died of ‘fever due to lack of paracetamol’ or ‘respiratory failure due to lack of steroid’ and similarly ‘patient died due to lack of oxygen’!,” he said.

The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) doesn't have code for lack of Oxygen or Hypoxia.

“Autopsy or post-mortem can help in cases when cause of death cannot be ascertained. However in Covid-19 hardly any autopsies are done due to the fear instilled at since the pandemic began, once again due to ICMR guidelines on how dead bodies of Covid-19 patients should be disposed off,” Dr Gilada pointed out.