Under the new notification policy, any sudden cardiac death, particularly among young people, must be reported to the Health Department by medical institutions within 24 hours.
Published Jul 08, 2025 | 12:05 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 08, 2025 | 9:55 AM
A heart attack is caused by total or near total blockage of one or more of the three coronary arteries. (Creative Commons)
Synopsis: The Karnataka government has made sudden heart attack deaths legally notifiable, requiring all healthcare providers to report such cases to the state Health Department within 24 hours. The move follows a state-appointed committee’s findings on a rise in sudden cardiac deaths, especially among young people, and includes mandatory autopsies to establish the exact cause of death.
As part of its response to the alarming number of sudden cardiac deaths, particularly among the youth, the Karnataka government has made sudden heart attack deaths “notifiable”.
This means hospitals, clinics, and healthcare providers across the state will now be legally required to report such deaths to the Health Department. Autopsies will also be mandatory in these cases to establish the precise cause of death.
The announcement was made on Monday, 7 July by Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, shortly after the Health Department reviewed a detailed report on the increase in sudden cardiovascular deaths – especially after Covid and among otherwise healthy young individuals.
The report was submitted by a government-backed committee led by the Director of the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research Centre.
“We are seeing a deeply concerning trend of young people collapsing suddenly due to heart attacks,” Gundu Rao told reporters.
“This committee was formed to check the reasons and give recommendations. Based on the recommendation, we have now decided to make sudden heart attack deaths notifiable across Karnataka,” he added.
The official report – compiled by a state-appointed ten-member committee of cardiologists chaired by Dr KS Ravindranath, Director of Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, Bengaluru – confirmed an increase in the number of sudden deaths due to heart attacks.
Although the report does not draw a direct link between the trend and either Covid-19 infection or vaccination, it underlines the need for “enhanced surveillance, long-term cardiometabolic follow-up, and public health preparedness”.
The committee recommended that all sudden cardiac deaths in individuals under the age of 40 be closely studied and documented. Making such deaths notifiable was the top recommendation, and the state health ministry has now accepted and ordered its implementation.
The report also clarified that while several studies supported by the ICMR and other institutes have shown that Covid-19 infection can cause inflammation and clotting abnormalities, which may increase short-term cardiac risk, there is no evidence suggesting such deaths can occur four years after the pandemic.
Instead, the report attributed the rise in cases to growing metabolic disorders, an increase in lifestyle-related diseases, substance abuse among young people, and high levels of stress.
Under the new notification policy, any sudden cardiac death, particularly among young people, must be reported to the Health Department by medical institutions within 24 hours.
The data will be centrally recorded by the state’s Health Department, and in some cases, a cause-of-death audit may be initiated.
Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said all sudden heart attack deaths, especially among the young and those occurring outside hospital premises, will now have to be notified, and an autopsy must be compulsorily conducted to determine the exact cause of the cardiac arrest.
The move is expected to standardise reporting, prevent undercounting, and help track demographic and regional trends in real time. Karnataka is the first state in the country to introduce such a step for a non-communicable cause of death.
In recent months, the state has reported a number of sudden deaths – from college students to tech professionals – many with no prior history of heart disease.
Social media has seen a surge of concern and speculation, particularly after the Hassan cluster, where multiple young men reportedly died of cardiac arrest within days.
Doctors have long called for systematic data collection on such cases, and Monday’s decision is being viewed as a significant step forward for the medical community.
The Health Department is expected to issue a detailed directive to government and private hospitals shortly, with guidelines on the reporting format and updated protocols.
In India, notifiable diseases have traditionally been referred to as infectious conditions like cholera, dengue, or Covid-19.
However, public health experts argue that it is time for states to expand the scope to include critical non-communicable causes of death – particularly those with sudden onset and wider public health implications.
Experts say Karnataka’s decision could serve as a model for other states.
Dr Ravindranath, who headed the expert committee, welcomed the decision.
“Notifying cardiac deaths – especially sudden heart attack fatalities – can be a game-changer for cardiologists and public health experts,” he told South First.
“Currently, many deaths occur outside hospitals and go unrecorded or misclassified, leading to an underestimation of the true burden of heart disease and also leading to multiple speculations. Mandatory notification would enable cardiologists to understand regional patterns, identify high-risk age groups (such as the recent spike in heart attacks among young adults), and investigate potential triggers.”
Renowned interventional cardiologist and Lead Consultant in Cardiology at KIMS Hospital, Dr Deepak Krishnamurthy, concurred.
“If autopsies are done on these sudden cardiac deaths, then we can get to know what really happened. This will improve our understanding of the pathophysiology and help in preventing such events,” he told South First.
Dr Vivek Jawali, cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon at Fortis Hospitals, agreed that health infrastructure is now robust enough to support such reporting.
“The only thing is this should not become a hassle for grieving families. The government must take care of that and keep checks on this in place,” he added.
Furthermore, doctors say that with reliable data, specialists will be better equipped to design targeted screening protocols, early intervention strategies, and community-based prevention measures – especially in rural or semi-urban regions where heart disease often goes undetected until it’s too late.
However, they have called for more measures, including:
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
