The Joint Platform of Doctors in West Bengal have issued a statement stating that efforts have also been made to divert public attention and point fingers at doctors from the real issue in the administration of the ‘expired’ saline which led to the death of a woman in the State. This comes as a reaction to the previous comments made by the West Bengal Chief Secretary that an initial probe into the case suggested that Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was not followed by doctors.
In a statement issued by the JPD on January 14, WB wing they said, “The latest incident in Midnapore further strengthens our concerns regarding the corrupt practices affecting our healthcare system at all levels. The administration has been ignoring the problem of fake medicines over a prolonged period, which highlights a conspiracy at a political and bureaucratic level.” They asked for a judicial probe into the matter for transparency.
A section of doctors also raised questions about why CID was roped into the investigation by the State government. Doctor Tapas Pramanick, Medical Officer at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata who is part of multiple doctor’s forums himself raised questions about why the government of West Bengal roped in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe the “lapse” which led to one woman’s death and three others remained critical.
“If there is any negligence or procedural error that should only be investigated by doctors team, like doctors from AIIMS like institutions. CID should interrogate all the higher officials in health administration why they did not ban the use of RL despite objection from CDSCO or Karnataka govt.? This is totally illegal that CID are interrogating the concerned doctors,” said Dr Pramanick. He also shed light on the death and said that it was due to Septic Shock with multi-organ failure as per the post-mortem report, which means there were a source of infection that may have come from Controversial RL/impurities of Oxytocin.
Government’s probe
This development comes after West Bengal Health Department on Monday admitted to a lapse and said that they will take strict action against anyone found guilty in the administration of expired saline at Medinipur Medical College and Hospital.
Chief Secretary of West Bengal Manoj Pant said, “A senior doctor is always present during such procedures, but in this case the trainee doctors conducted the process. That is why we feel the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was not followed.”
“Primary investigation shows that there were violations of procedures. We have collected samples of the medicines and sent them for examination to help in further investigation,” he added.
Ban on drugs
In the meantime, the government of West Bengal has banned nine other fluids along with RL after the death led to doubts being raised about the drug usage. On January 14 the government also issued a notice for all medical colleges and hospitals and said, “All the items procured through SMIS from Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals should not be used even if available… and all existing stocks should be withdrawn.”
The allegedly expired RL that was administered to the five women at the Medinipur Hospital was from the Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals and has been facing the heat from both medical and political fraternities.
Published – January 15, 2025 09:46 pm IST
