An eight-month-old baby admitted to the district hospital in Ballia in eastern Uttar Pradesh died on Wednesday after a rickshaw puller allegedly administered an injection to him. The police have registered an FIR against three persons and the health minister has ordered an inquiry into the case.
The FIR has been registered against Dr Vinesh Kumar, pharmacist Srikant and rickshaw puller Desh Kumar Verma alias Bechu on a complaint by the victim’s grandmother Sapna Singh, additional superintendent of police KC Goswami told reporters in Ballia. Chief medical superintendent of the hospital KP Singh told reporters that he is probing the matter.
The baby, Ajay, was suffering from septicemia and was critical. He was admitted in the emergency ward of the district hospital on Monday. The doctor had recommended a dose of a life-saving drug and asked the pharmacist to administer it. However, the latter passed on the job to Bechu, a rickshaw puller who usually ferries bodies of dead patients. He also posed for some news channels which showed him administering an injection to another child and pulling rickshaw with a body. He claimed on camera that he had been assisting in patient care and post-mortem for the last 15 years.
Condemning the incident, health minister Ahmad Hasan told reporters in Lucknow that he had ordered a high-level probe into the matter and strict action would be initiated against those found guilty.
According to the complaint filed by the child’s family, the incident took place on Wednesday morning when the allegedly drunk rickshaw puller administered an injection to the baby leading to his death, Goswami said.
District magistrate Sunil Kumar Srivastava said according to a preliminary inquiry, the child was given injection by someone who was not health department staff. A recommendation has been made to the government to take stern action against the guilty health staff, he said.
Last week, a sweeper was caught on camera attending to patients in emergency ward of the same hospital. The sweeper Raj Kumar had claimed he administered injections and stitches according to instructions given by doctors. Last year, a sweeper and ward boy were caught performing surgeries in Bulandshahr district hospital.
Some doctors were suspended last year after an inquiry when such incidents were reported from Ballia, Bulandshahr and Meerut among other districts. Those suspended were reinstated later. However, no concrete steps were taken to put things in order.
In the present case, too, the state government acted only after the media highlighted the child’s death.
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