4 year old allegedly given anti-rabies injection after snakebite at Sambhal Hospital, pharmacist removed

Sambhal: A four-year-old boy, after being bitten by a snake, was allegedly administered an anti-rabies injection instead of an anti-snake venom injection at Sambhal district hospital. The hospital has removed a pharmacist from duty and ordered an inquiry into the treatment given to the child.

The incident occurred on September 21 in Musapur village, when the boy was bitten by a snake while trying to retrieve a marble from a hole in a wall. His family rushed him to the District Joint Hospital after his condition began to worsen.

According to the family, they repeatedly informed hospital staff that the child had been bitten by a snake. They alleged that he was instead given an anti-rabies injection along with other medicines and sent home.

“We kept telling them that he had been bitten by a snake, but they did not listen,” the child’s father said.

The boy’s condition reportedly deteriorated after he returned home. He began vomiting, his eyes became swollen, and his body turned cold, following which the family took him to a private hospital on Chandausi Road. Doctors there reportedly confirmed a snakebite and admitted him to the ICU on the night of September 21.

The child continued to require treatment and monitoring, with his condition showing no significant improvement for several days, according to the family.

According to the chief medical superintendent, the child was brought to the hospital when the doctor on duty was unavailable, and a pharmacist, who is also a government employee, had prescribed the anti-rabies injection.

Speaking to TOI, the Sambhal district hospital chief medical superintendent, Rajendra Singh, said, “The pharmacist has been removed from all duties, while a three-member committee has written to the director general, seeking action against him. The district magistrate is also conducting an inquiry into the incident.”

A three-member panel has been constituted to determine who examined the child, what treatment was provided at the district hospital and the circumstances in which the alleged injection was administered.