'Poorly Preserved Platelets, Not sweet lime Juice' transfused to dengue patient says panel; Prayagraj hospital to be demolished

Prayagraj: Days after a 32-year-old dengue patient passed away after his family alleged that he was transfused with sweet lime juice instead of plasma at the Global Hospital in Prayagraj, a senior government official has revealed that the patient was given poorly preserved platelets. The authorities have ordered the demolition of an illegally constructed private hospital.

Prayagraj District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Khatri said that the three-member team probing the incident have found that the patient was given a packet of "poorly preserved" platelets and not sweet lime juice. He said, "The panel has submitted its report. It found that there was negligence in the treatment of the dengue patient. The inquiry also found that the platelets transfused to the patient were poorly preserved and that led to his death." adding, "We are taking action based on this information."

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Khatri accused the Global hospital of laxity in the transfusion process, stating that the improper storage of platelets led to the clotting. On Wednesday, the Prayagraj district magistrate observed that the report of the samples collected from the hospital came back.

Khatri observed, "Nothing like sweet lime juice was transfused to the patients. It was blood platelets but stored in the wrong way which might have caused clotting. The hospital has been found lax in transfusing the platelets to the patient and action will be taken against it."

As per a media report in the Hindustan Times, Prayagraj chief medical officer Dr Nanak Saran have been directed to take action against the hospital as per the rules, according to Khatri. 

Meanwhile, amidst the ongoing controversy, the hospital, which was sealed on October 20 after the incident, was served a notice from the Prayagraj Development Authority stating that the building was unauthorised and they directed the authorities to vacate the building by the morning of October 28 so that the authorities could go ahead with the demolition work.

The notice dated October 19 was served to Malti Devi, owner of Global Hospital at Jhalwa in Dhoomanganj and it stated that the building was, "illegally constructed and has a demolition order pending against it." Prayagraj Development Authority vice-chairman Arvind Chauhan observed, "It is routine action being taken in accordance with the set norms for constructions undertaken without due permission." 

As per a media report in the Tribune, show-cause notices were already issued to the hospital owners so that they could provide an explanation over the unauthorised status of the building. The notice, however, observed that the demolition has been ordered after no one came to the hearing, and the hospital is most likely to be bulldozed. 

The letter issued to the hospital stated that the building housing the hospital has been functioning without prior permission, according to the Uttar Pradesh Town Planning and Development Act 1973. The letter, as reported in the Hindu, stated, "You have been issued show cause notice on 03.09.2021 and the date of hearing was fixed on 17.09.2021 and 06.10.2021, in which you were not present and also no document was sent to us. Hence the decision of demolition was passed on 11.01.2022." 

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported about the sealing of the private hospital after it allegedly transferred sweet lime juice instead of plasma to a dengue patient, who had eventually passed away. A video allegedly exposing the incident from UP had also gone viral on social media, which was shared by a local journalist. 

The patient, a resident of Bamrauli in Prayagraj Global Hospital in Jhalwa, was admitted to the Global Hospital and Trauma Centre after being diagnosed with Dengue. The family of the patient alleged that his condition became worse after he was transfused with platelets from one of the bags supplied by the hospital. He was taken to a second hospital after his condition became bad where the doctors stated that the platelet bag was fake and consisted of a mix of chemicals and sweet lime or mosambi juice. 

Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak had directed the district administration to seal the hospital after the video went viral on social media. He had written in a tweet, "Taking cognisance of the viral video at the hospital where a dengue patient was transfused with sweet lemon juice instead of platelets, on my directive the hospital was sealed and the platelet packets have been sent for testing," adding, "If found guilty, strict action will be taken against the hospital." 

However, the hospital had been refuting the allegations alleging that the platelets were arranged by the relatives of the patient, and the latter developed reactions after being transfused with three units. 

The patient's wife had earlier filed an FIR against the staff and doctors alleging that he was transfused with fake blood platelets and ten people were also arrested in the city for selling fake blood platelets to attendants of dengue patients. 

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