Infant dies of wrong jab: Court rejects anticipatory bail plea of Mumbai hospital owner

Mumbai: Days after a two-year-old had died due to an alleged administration of wrong injection in Shivaji Nagar hospital, the anticipatory bail application of the hospital owner has rejected by the sessions court. 

The child was was admitted on January 11 to Noor Hospital by his parents as he had vomiting and diarrhoea, and after 2 days, a doctor had told his parents that the child's health was getting better and he could be discharged. However, the child passed away on January 13. 

The medical dialogues team had earlier reported about this incident, when an offence was registered against three employees and the owner of the city based hospital where the incident took place.

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As per the complaint filed by the complaint filed by the toddler's father in the Shiavji Nagar hospital, the two nurses were not taking the responsibility of providing injections to the child, and one of them eventually administered an injection which was meant for another patient diagnosed with malaria in the same ward. The child's health condition deteriorated after that, following which he eventually passed away. 

The court noted that it was due to the "misapplication of drugs by an untrained nurse," that the child lost his life, as per a media report int he Indian Express. 

In the pre-arrest bail plea filed by owner of the hospital, he submitted that he is a doctor by profession and was absent at the time of the incident, adding that the complaint was fake and far removed from the truth. 

The plea was opposed by the prosecution who stated that the hospital was given a certificate of registration by the civic body under the Nursing Home Registration Act which was valid up to March 31, 2020, and after that, the hospital owner had failed to renew it. Further, the prosecution submitted that the nurses were not trained, however, were still employed by the owner. 

Additional sessions judge G B Gurao observed that prima facie, it appears that the hospital owner did not renew the registration of the hospital, and it observed, "It reveals from the prosecution that the applicant had employed a minor girl as a nurse and that she was not trained as a nurse. It also appears that inspite of correspondence the administration of the hospital did not give information to the investigating officer about the doctor and nurses in the hospital."

The court further added that employing an untrained nurse reveals that he had not taken proper care and was therefore 'viciously liable' for the act, reports the Indian Express. 

A case was filed by Shivaji Nagar police under section 304 (2) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 304 (A) (causing death by negligence) along with other charges. 

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