Protests against use of expired saline
The deputy commissioner (DC) of Nilphamari yesterday formed a five-member inquiry committee, following Sunday’s public agitation in front of the district’s civil surgeon’s (CS) office in protest against using expired intravenous saline for patients in Nilphamari 250-bed Modern Hospital.
The committee headed by ADC (General) Azaharul Islam sealed the medicine store of district health department attached to the CS office and started quizzing persons concerned in connection with the incident.
Locals formed a human chain at Chowrangi intersection in the district town yesterday protesting various irregularities and corruption in the 250-bed hospital.
On Saturday night, hospital staff pushed expired intravenous saline to several patients in female ward, worsening their condition.
The product had expired in May 2019, said the patients’ relatives, referring to the imprint on the packet.
Of the affected patients, Mollika Begum, 45, of Natun Bazar area was under treatment with chest pain and Prinka Rani, 14, of Baroipara area with stomach pain.
“After my mother was taken to hospital, the on-duty doctor asked me to get her ECG done at a diagnostic centre outside although the hospital is equipped with the facility,” Mollika’s son Sanwar Hossain alleged at yesterday’s human chain.
“After nurses pushed saline, my mother’s condition deteriorated. Checking the imprinted information, I found that the product had expired,” he said.
“A syndicate controls different matters of the hospital. A particular food contractor, using different names, has continued supplying diet for patients at the hospital for long 32 years while a selected group have been supplying medicines and surgical instruments for 20 years,” Parvez Hossain, a leading member of Nilphamari blood bank, a voluntary organization, said at the programme.
In most cases, substandard diet and medicines are provided, he added.
Speakers alleged that the hospital storekeeper with the consent of his higher authorities receive expired saline and medicines from drug companies through bribery although there is a committee comprising doctors and administrative officials to check the supplied medicines.
They warned of tougher programmes if the culprits behind the use of expired saline and medicines and other irregularities are not brought to book.
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