Five All India Institute of Medical Sciences doctors were suspended on Sunday for alleged medical negligence that led to the death of a nurse. The action against the three senior residents and two junior residents came after Rajbir Kaur, 28, died on Saturday. She was on ventilator support for three weeks after suffering a cardiac arrest during an emergency caesarean section surgery. She was admitted to the hospital on January 16.

While the unions of nurses welcomed the move, the Resident Doctors Association threatened to go on strike if the suspensions were not revoked. Around 500 nurses held protests outside the director’s office on Sunday demanding action against the doctors they hold responsible for Kaur’s death.

The nurses’ unions have alleged that the doctors were responsible for being late to detect a slow heart beat in Kaur’s foetus, which had prompted an emergency caesarean section surgery. “When the surgery took place finally, the child was stillborn and Kaur suffered a massive cardiac arrest during the procedure. Doctors were able to revive heart function by giving cardiopulmonary resuscitation then, but Kaur slipped into coma thereafter,” Harish Kumar Kajla, president of AIIMS nursing union, told The Times of India.

Kajla said the doctors gave Kaur excessive medication to induce labour, but the hospital has denied the claim. The RDA has condemned the action against the doctors. “We strongly condemn this action and urge the administration to withdraw the suspension order immediately, failing which residents will be forced to withhold all patient care with immediate effect,” said Dr Vijay Gurjar, president of AIIMS RDA.

The hospital administration said they had formed a committee to look into the case. “We have formed a fact-finding committee headed by medical superintendent Dr DK Sharma. The preliminary report will be submitted within 48 hours, following which action will be taken if negligence is proved,” AIIMS spokesperson Dr Amit Gupta said.