Dog bite patient allegedly given snakebite injection, Rewa Hospital under scrutiny

Rewa: Medical negligence has once again come under scrutiny at Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Rewa after an 18-year-old man, who visited the facility following a dog bite, alleged that he was administered an injection meant for snakebite treatment instead of an anti-rabies injection. 

The patient said he visited the hospital after being bitten by a dog. However, the prescription issued at the hospital reportedly recorded his medical history as “H/O U/K Snake Bite”, meaning a history of an unknown snakebite. 

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According to the patient, he only learned that he may have been given the wrong injection after returning to his village. He said local residents pointed out that the treatment appeared inconsistent with a dog-bite case. He subsequently returned to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, where, he alleged, a doctor told him that he would be administered an anti-rabies injection.

The prescription that surfaced in the case mentions 'H/O U/K Snake Bite.' It also shows the time as 5 p.m. on September 5 and refers to the left leg. This means that the patient's history was recorded on the prescription as an unknown snake bite. At the bottom of the prescription, the injections TT 0.5 ml IM, Avil 1A IV, and Dexa 1A IV are listed. However, neither Anti-Snake Venom nor Anti-Rabies Vaccine is mentioned on the prescription, reports Bhaskar English.

The patient has alleged that he was initially administered antivenom despite informing hospital staff that he had been bitten by a dog. Questioning the discrepancy in the medical record, he asked, “If I had informed them about the dog bite, why was ‘Unknown Snake Bite’ recorded on my slip?”

He further said that he intends to file a complaint regarding the matter through the CM Helpline.

Speaking to Bhaskar English, Hospital Superintendent Dr Priyank Sharma said that the matter will be investigated. If negligence is found during the investigation, action will be taken against those responsible. For now, the hospital administration has not clarified which injection was administered to the young man initially. The complete facts regarding the allegations will become clear only after the investigation.

The alleged incident comes just days after Sanjay Gandhi Hospital was under scrutiny over the deaths of a woman and her newborn during the woman's first delivery. Following that case, two doctors and two nursing staff members were suspended.

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