Expired Paracetamol Injection Administered to SDM's Daughter in UP, 2 Pharmacists Suspended, Store Sealed

The incident reportedly occurred on Friday, August 28, when Shreyasi Singh, the eight-year-old daughter of Lalganj SDM Wachaspati Singh, developed a high fever. At around 3 pm, she was taken to the trauma centre in the Lalganj area, located approximately 35 kilometres from the district headquarters.

At the trauma centre, a pharmacist allegedly added a paracetamol injection to the glucose being administered to the child and gave the medicine to her. However, the SDM’s employee noticed the expiry date printed on the injection and immediately brought the matter to the SDM’s attention.

Following the discovery, the SDM reportedly reprimanded the doctor and other hospital staff and subsequently lodged a complaint with CMO Dr A.N. Prasad regarding the incident.

According to the allegations, pharmacist Arvind Kumar Shukla, who was in charge of the medicine store, took an expired paracetamol injection from the store and handed it over to pharmacist Dev Kumar Dubey. Dubey allegedly administered the injection to the child without checking its expiry date.

The SDM alleged that his employee noticed the expired paracetamol injection and the glucose and immediately questioned the pharmacist about it. However, pharmacist Dev Kumar Dubey reportedly failed to provide a satisfactory or clear explanation when questioned about the expired medicine.

The SDM accused store in-charge Arvind Kumar Shukla of negligence in the discharge of his duties and alleged that he had issued an expired injection from the medicine store. The SDM described the matter as serious negligence concerning the use of medicines and patient safety and sought appropriate action against those responsible.

Taking the matter seriously, CMO Dr A.N. Prasad inspected CHC Lalganj and the trauma centre on Friday. During the inspection, officials examined the medicines available at the hospital as well as the conditions under which the medicines were being stored.

On Saturday morning, following the CMO’s inspection, action was taken to seal the expired medicines kept in the hospital store. During the process, officials reportedly discovered a large quantity of expired medicines inside the store.

The presence of a substantial stock of expired medicines in a government hospital has raised concerns regarding medicine storage and stock-management practices. Questions have also been raised over how such medicines remained in the store for an extended period, who was responsible for conducting regular stock inspections and why expired medicines were not identified and separated from usable medicines in a timely manner.

According to Bhaskar English, the case led to the suspension of two pharmacists and the sealing of the medicine store after expired medicines were found during the inspection. The report also highlighted the allegations concerning the expired paracetamol injection administered to the SDM’s daughter and the subsequent action taken by the health authorities.

CMO Dr A.N. Prasad stated that an investigation committee has been constituted to examine the circumstances surrounding the administration of the expired medicine to the girl. The two pharmacists found responsible for negligence have been suspended. During their suspension period, Arvind Kumar Shukla and Dev Kumar Dubey will remain attached to the office of the Deputy Chief Medical Officer (ACMO), Pratapgarh.