Cuttack: A day after a 20-year-old girl died at SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) here after allegedly taking expired medicines for tuberculosis (TB), the health department Monday sought detailed documents related to the deceased’s treatment from the hospital authorities.
Guddi Nayak, the only daughter of Rajendra and Gita Nayak of Rajabagicha area, was suffering from chronic category II tuberculosis. She was admitted to SCB Saturday after her condition become critical following ingestion of expired medicines. She died Sunday morning.
Meanwhile, the district heath department, which conducted a probe into the matter, submitted a report to the chief district medical officer (CDMO). Hospital sources said the probe report held the patient wise box that contains the entire course of the treatment of the patient responsible for her death.
According to sources, TB patients are administered medicines in two phases. In the first three months, the patient is administered drugs in intensive phase, while the subsequent five months is called continues phase. The patient wise box given to the girl contained both phases of medicines. While the medicines for first three months in the box had expired their validity date, the expiry date of the drugs meant for continues phase too had ended in September 2017, the probe report pointed out.
The probe report further said someone had kept the expiry medicines in the box.
Meanwhile, the doctors have questioned the ‘on the procedures’ of the government for administering medicines to TB patients. “Although pharmacists have the sole authority to look after the medicines, the government has appointed ASHA and anganwadi workers as service providers to deliver medicines to the TB patients’ houses. However, ASHA and anganwadi workers are not qualified to handle the medicines and their doses,” a doctor of the TB and chest department of SCB said on the condition of anonymity.
Notably, the girl was initially undergoing treatment at the City Hospital here where she was prescribed the medicines four months ago.
But when her condition did not improve, she consulted a private clinic earlier this month where another doctor found that she was taking medicines that have expired since
September 2017.
She was referred to the SCB in a critical condition and she died Sunday while undergoing treatment in the TB ward of the hospital.
PNN
