In a shocking lapse by medical authorities, the patients at a government hospital in Jodhpur were administered veterinary injections for three days despite the vials clearly stating that these were not meant for human use.
An estimated 300 one-gram vials of Meropenem, a Schedule H1 antibiotic, were issued from the four pharmacy counters of the Mathura Das Mathur Hospital under the ‘Chief Minister Free Medicine Scheme’.
The blunder was revealed when a patient’s attendant read the label saying “NOT FOR HUMAN USE, FOR ANIMAL TREATMENT” just before a resident doctor was preparing to administer the intravenous injection on Saturday night.
Immediately, the matter sparked a massive outrage in the hospital wards.
Superintendent of Mathura Das Mathur Hospital, Deepak Verma, suspended a junior physician on Sunday and stopped distribution of the injection from all the counters in the hospital.
Verma said the matter was referred to the drug controller and drug officer of Pali district Manish Gupta. An inquiry has been ordered into the purchase of the injection vials.
The side-effects on the patients who were administered the injection were observed and monitored, the hospital superintendent said, adding that he couldn’t provide the number of such patients.
Dissatisfied with the hospital’s actions, Jodhpur district collector Pritam B. Yashwant on Monday ordered a parallel inquiry by Additional Collector Manaram Patel.
It emerged that of the 300 injections issued to the patients last weekend, 149 had already been administered on several patients – some of them more than once.
The remaining vials were taken away from the patients and seized.
As the health department failed to supply the drugs from Jaipur, the hospital authorities had decided to purchase them from the market after obtaining due permission from Jodhpur’s S. N. Medical college under whose jurisdiction the MDM Hospital and two other hospitals fall.
A purchase order of Meropenem injections were issued to Agrawal Traders. The supplier had, some three months ago, delivered 1,000 one-gram vials (Batch number: PPM110) of the drug, manufactured by Pushkar Pharma under the brand name ‘Pepenam’.
Medical experts said that Meropenem can be given to both animals and humans, but in different quantities. In the case of humans, 500mg or less of the drug is usually given, depending on the weight of the patient. The quantity is one gram in cases of veterinary use.
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