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Patients run scared of Cuttack hospital

M I Khan in Cuttack

Scared of being administered contaminated transfusion fluids, patients admitted to the largest government-run hospital in Cuttack in Orissa are running away. The death of five patients on Sunday triggered an exodus from the SCB Medical College and Hospital.

After three women patients and two newly-born infants died on Sunday, relatives began suspecting the worst. All the three women developed labour pain soon after being administered drips on Saturday night. "Some others were more lucky as doctors managed to save them," sources said.

"Who knows what kind of fluids or medicines were given to the patients," said Durga Mohanty, the relative of a patient. He was echoing the fears of others who had come to visit their relatives admitted to the hospital.

A hospital staff said that the relatives, more than the patients, had lost confidence in the prestigious hospital. "They are more anxious to leave the hospital along with their dear or near ones, " he said.

Sources said that one of the bottles administered to one of the dead patients bore the date of manufacture as September 1997. The bottles seized from the gynaecology department had no labels bearing - For government of Orissa.

Superintendent of the hospital Professor Ratnakar Das, however, refuted the news about patients deserting the hospital out of fear. "There is no such case, not a single patient has deserted the hospital," he said adding that the reports were nothing but rumours.

He said that it is very difficult to say about the cause of the deaths. "At the moment I can't say. The cause can be ascertained after the fluid and post-mortem reports are submitted." But he said that it is too early to conclude that the fluids were contaminated. No such cases have been reported from other wards.

However, a reliable source in the hospital told rediff.com that a large number of women patients of the gynaecology department and some other departments left the hospital on Sunday and Monday. "All the deaths occurred in the delivery ward, causing panic among the women," he said.

Those who have opted to stay back have either come from rural areas or are poor people.

Minister of State for Health Debi Mishra visited the hospital on Monday and reviewed the situation. He told newspersons that there is no reason to panic. Sources in the hospital said the minister asked the hospital superintendent to submit a report about the incident.

The state government has ordered the Crime Branch to probe the incident. The police seized empty bottles and samples of fluids were sent to the state forensic laboratory for testing. Besides, the Director General of police directed the Vigilance Department to probe the incident.

Cabinet Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Kamla Das said it was too soon to assume that contaminated fluids caused the deaths.

Sources said that about 500 bottles of transfusion fluids had been distributed to the wards on Saturday. But in the wake of the deaths, the authorities have withdrawn them. Kelvin Pharmaceutical Laboratory and Om Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals, based in the Cuttack industrial estate, supplied the fluids.

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