Calcutta High Court Offers Legal Shield to Suspended Doctor in Saline Scandal
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Synopsis
The Calcutta High Court has granted suspended junior doctor Pallabi Bandopadhyay protection from coercive police action in a case involving expired saline that led to the deaths of a woman and her newborn. This decision follows widespread criticism of the state government's suspension of 12 doctors linked to the incident.
Key Takeaways
- Calcutta High Court intervenes to protect suspended doctor.
- Expired saline linked to fatalities of a woman and newborn.
- State government suspends 12 doctors amid public outcry.
- Separate investigations initiated by health department and CID.
- Clinical experts recommend avoiding certain saline batches.
Kolkata, Jan 28 (NationPress) A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court granted protection from coercive police measures to suspended junior doctor Pallabi Bandopadhyay regarding the expired saline incident that resulted in the deaths of a woman and her newborn earlier this month.
The decision by the state government to suspend 12 doctors sparked significant backlash as it was revealed that the fatalities were due to the alleged administration of expired Ringer’s Lactate supplied by the blacklisted Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals Private Limited.
In addition to suspending the two doctors involved, the state government initiated two separate investigations: one led by a team of experts from the state health department and another by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal Police.
On January 22, Bandopadhyay approached the Calcutta High Court, alleging that the CID was conducting excesses within the hospital during its investigation.
On Tuesday, Justice Tirthankar Ghosh instructed the CID to refrain from any coercive actions, including arrests, against Bandopadhyay, while also urging her to fully cooperate with the ongoing investigations.
Earlier this month, five women reportedly fell ill after being given expired Ringer’s Lactate. Tragically, Mamoni Ruidas, one of the five patients, and the newborn of Rekha Shaw subsequently died.
As public outrage grew over the allegations regarding the expired saline, the Chief Minister held a press conference asserting that the negligence of the attending doctors was to blame for the incidents and announced the suspension of the 12 doctors.
The Chief Minister defended the supplier, claiming that if the expired saline was indeed the issue, there would have been similar incidents reported from other state-run hospitals using Ringer’s Lactate from the same supplier.
However, a recent report from clinical experts did not dismiss the potential adverse effects of administering essential liquids like Ringer’s Lactate and oxytocin, which might have contributed to the unfortunate outcomes.
The committee has forwarded the batch of Ringer’s Lactate and oxytocin for further sophisticated clinical evaluation. Until the results are in, the committee has recommended avoiding the use of these clinical liquids from the implicated batch.
