Kolkata, Jan 13 The Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, on Monday, sought that FIRs be registered against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and the state health secretary Narayan Swarup Nigam in connection with the death of a pregnant woman at state-run Midnapore Medical College and Hospital allegedly after being administered with 'expired' Ringer’s Lactate (RL) saline.
Speaking to the media persons outside the state Assembly on Monday, Adhikari claimed that the negligence of the state health department in the matter is clear. “What has happened is beyond pardon. On December 13 last year, the Karnataka Government had given a written intimation to West Bengal about the organisation supplying the saline. Then in January, the West Bengal government banned the use of the saline supplied by that entity. But even after that, the saline is being used in many state-run hospitals,” the Leader of the Opposition said.
According to him, the Chief Minister who is also the state health minister and the state health secretary cannot deny their responsibilities in the matter. He claimed that the owner corporate entity which supplied the saline, Paschim Banga Pharmaceutical Limited, is extremely close to the ruling Trinamool Congress.
“I doubt that there had been some sort of money game behind the entire development where the saline by a blacklisted identity continued to be used. The tears of the common people will ultimately result in the end of the Chief Minister and her government,” Adhikari said.
Last week, five pregnant women were critically admitted at Midnapore Medical College and Hospital after allegedly being administered expired saline. One of them, Mamoni Ruidas (25), died on Friday. The remaining four were under treatment at the same hospital. Three of them were shifted to state-run S.S.K.M. Medical College and Hospital in south Kolkata on Sunday night following a sharp deterioration in their health conditions.
The incident has 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.
The West Bengal Health Department has formed a 13-member inquiry committee to investigate how expired saline was administered to these patients. This incident has revived concerns over similar cases in the state’s healthcare system.
Notably, in a recent case of financial irregularities at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, its former principal, Sandip Ghosh, was accused of encouraging the use of expired and ineffective drugs on patients for personal financial gains.
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