Kolkata, Jan 16: A newborn baby of one of the five women, who fell sick last week at a state-run Midnipore Medical College and Hospital (MMCH) after being allegedly administered with expired Ringer’s Lactate, died on Thursday. Last week Mamoni Ruidas, one of the five women, died at the same hospital. On Thursday, the newborn girl of Rekha Shaw, one of the other four surviving women, died at the state-run medical college and hospital in Kolkata.
Three of the four women were shifted to the hospital after their condition worsened. The baby soon after birth was kept under isolation and on ventilation in the same hospital. “We were shown the baby just once after the birth and since then was kept under isolation. Now we are told that the baby has expired,” confirmed Rekha’s mother-in-law Pushpa Shaw.
On Wednesday, the leader of opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari demanded that Central agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) be involved in the ongoing probe into the case which is being conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal Police and a team of the state health department.
Last week, five women had fallen sick at the said state-run medical college and hospital in West Midnapore district allegedly after being administered with expired Ringer’s lactate. While Ruidas died last Friday, the four others then were kept under treatment at the critical care unit and intensive care units of the same hospital. However, later three of them had to be shifted to state-run S.S.K.M Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata following sharp deteriorations in their medical conditions.
The incident raised serious concerns, especially as the expired RL saline allegedly came from Paschim Banga Pharmaceutical Limited, a company earlier banned by the Karnataka government and later by the West Bengal government.
First, the state health department directed the medical superintendents-cum-vice principals of all medical colleges and hospitals and all the chief medical officers of the districts “to ensure total stoppage of existing stock of Compound Sodium Lactate Injection (RL) supplied by Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd in his/her jurisdiction”.
Later, the state government also directed the removal of stocks of all medicines supplied by the said company from all healthcare entities in the state.
