No mosambi juice in IV drip: Initial probe in UP patient’s death
According to officials, Pradeep Pandey, a 30-year-old contractor and resident of Bamrauli, was admitted to the hospital on October 14. He was transfused alleged fake platelets, following which his condition deteriorated. He was shifted to another private hospital on October 17 where he died on Wednesday morning.
A day after a private hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj district was sealed amid allegations that a dengue patient was transfused mosambi (sweet lime) juice instead of blood platelets, district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Khatri on Friday said there was no fruit juice in the pouch of platelets.
“Questioning till now has prima facie revealed there was no fruit juice in the pouch of platelets as was being reported on the social media, but it may have contained plasma,” said Khatri. “Pouches have been sent to the laboratory to ascertain the substance.”
On Thursday, Global Hospital was sealed on the instruction of chief medical officer Dr Nanak Saran after a video of the alleged incident went viral on social media.
According to officials, Pradeep Pandey, a 30-year-old contractor and resident of Bamrauli, was admitted to the hospital on October 14. He was transfused alleged fake platelets, following which his condition deteriorated. He was shifted to another private hospital on October 17 where he died on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, joint teams of Kotwali police and special operation group conducted raids at multiple places in the city and arrested 10 people for allegedly running a fake platelet racket.
The accused have been identified as Raghvendra Singh, Sunil Pandey, Sarfaraz, Dilip Shukla, Pradeep Kumar Patel, Yogeshwar Singh, Praveen Patel, Vikas Kumar, Abhishek Kumar and Dilip Patel, said senior superintendent of police (SSP) Shailesh Kumar Pandey. “At least 18 pouches of plasma, three pouches of suspected platelets, cash worth ₹1.02 lakh, bikes and 13 mobile phones were recovered from their possession,” the SSP added.
Explaining the modus operandi of the gang, the senior officer said the accused used to purchase 350-ml plasma pouches from blood banks. “They then pack 50 ml of plasma in smaller pouches and paste stickers of blood banks, before selling them to attendants of patients for ₹3,000 to ₹5,000 per pouch,” the officer said. One of the accused, Sarfaraz, worked at Global Laboratory in the city.
The CMO said the samples of plasma seized from the gang have been sent to the laboratory to “check what other components were mixed in them”.
A senior police officer requesting anonymity said raids were intensified following the death of the 30-year-old dengue patient on Wednesday, who was allegedly administered fake platelets.
The district magistrate said three units of platelets were arranged by Pandey’s kin and the remaining five units were procured by hospital management. Pandey’s condition deteriorated after fifth unit of platelets was transfused.
After a video of the alleged incident went viral on social media, the district administration sealed the private hospital at the direction of Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak. “Taking cognisance of the viral video at the hospital where a dengue patient was transfused with sweet lemon juice instead of platelets, on my directive the hospital was sealed and the platelet packets have been sent for testing,” Pathak had tweeted. “If found guilty, strict action will be taken against the hospital.”
HT cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video.
Meanwhile, a first information report (FIR) was registered against doctors and staff of Global Hospital besides one Satish Sahu and his father based on the complaint of Pandey’s wife Vaishnavi at the Dhumanganj police station. In her complaint, Vaishnavi has alleged that her husband was transfused with fake platelets by hospital staff following which he died. Separately, Pandey’s family members have alleged that the hospital transfused mousami juice and some chemicals to him.
The FIR has been registered under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 467 (forging document), 468 (forgery, intending that the forged document or electronic record shall be used for the purpose of cheating ), 471 (fraudulently or dishonestly using as genuine any document or electronic record knowing it to be forged), 274 (adulterating drug or any medical preparation), 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 120-B (being party to a criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, said an officer.