In a case of mistaken identity, PMCH issues death certificate to living Covid-19 patient

Such is the scare of Covid-19 that the relatives did not identify the body before receiving it at the hospital, but detected it only at the crematorium. Soon thereafter, they disowned the body and reported the matter to the hospital authorities.

Authorities of the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) had egg on their faces on Sunday after they issued the death certificate of a living Covid-19 patient and even handed over a body to the relatives, who discovered at the crematorium that it was a case of mistaken identity.

Health workers collect swab samples of migrants arriving from Maharashtra at COVID-19 testing centre in Patna in Bihar on Sunday. (HT PHOTO.)

PMCH superintendent Dr IS Thakur has terminated the services of a health manager, who was supposed to identify the body with the relatives before handing it over to them.

“I have issued a show-cause notice to the nodal officer and ordered an inquiry into the episode to find out those responsible for the lapse. I will take stern action against doctors or any other healthcare worker responsible for this act,” said Dr Thakur.

The PMCH had issued the death certificate of Chunnu Kumar, 40, a resident of Barh, who is recuperating from a fracture and has contracted coronavirus.

Kumar, who was in the IJ ward, an ICU for Covid-19 patients, was shifted to the adjacent AB ward to make way for a critical Covid-19 patient, Raj Kumar Bhagat, 45, from Purnia, admitted to the hospital in the wee hours of Sunday.

Bhagat did not survive long. Though the patients were swapped at midnight, the authorities, however, forgot to make the necessary changes in their medical records. So, when Bhagat died this morning, the hospital authorities took him for Kumar and called his relatives and handed over Bhagat’s body to them.

Such is the scare of Covid-19 that the relatives did not identify the body before receiving it at the hospital, but detected it only at the crematorium. Soon thereafter, they disowned the body and reported the matter to the hospital authorities, much to their embarrassment.