Expired insulin vial supplied to patient at PMC hospital in Kothrud

Taking serious note of the occurrence, a show-cause notice has been issued to the concerned staff, assistant health officer Dr Sanjeev Wavare said

In a shocking incident, expired medicine was allegedly supplied to a patient at the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)-run (late) Nathuram Shankar Marathe Hospital in Jay Bhavani Nagar, Kothrud. Luckily, the patient noticed that the medicine was past its expiry date just in time to avert a possible medical emergency, civic officials revealed on October 27.

According to PMC officials, the incident occurred on October 18 . (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

According to PMC officials, the incident occurred on October 18 when an organ transplant patient, Prakash Shelar, was supplied an expired vial of Actrapid FlexPen insulin for the treatment of diabetes by the said hospital’s pharmacist, Devdhar Valvi. Furthermore, Shelar was erroneously supplied magnesium-based tablets instead of the vitamin D3 supplements prescribed by the doctor, officials said.

Luckily, Shelar noticed the expiry date just in time to avert a possible emergency. He brought the matter to the notice of the medical officer who reportedly assured that the medicine would be replaced. While the matter was brushed aside, Shelar later complained to the PMC health department which served notice to Valvi. Upon investigating the civic-run Central Medical Stores located at Gadikhana, there were further shocking revelations. Turns out that the batch number mentioned in Shelar’s complaint had never been supplied by Central Medical Stores in the past one year. Also, the manufacturer of the said injection had stopped production two months ago and injections of that particular batch had not been procured by the PMC at all, according to civic officials.

Taking serious note of the occurrence, a show-cause notice has been issued to the concerned staff, assistant health officer Dr Sanjeev Wavare said. “We have asked him (Valvi) to submit an explanation within two days. Based on the inquiry, necessary action will be taken within three days, and the probe is underway.”

Meanwhile, officials shared that Valvi has accepted his mistake claiming he was busy attending to patients during a field visit in Bavdhan. Be that as it may, it is still to be found out from where the injection was procured.