10 out of 16 persons tested positive for the Hepatitis C Virus acquired the infection from hospital
Chennai: In what could be called ‘medical negligence’, the report of a three-member enquiry committee has said that 10 out of 16 persons, who tested positive for the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), after they underwent dialysis for their kidney problem, acquired the infection from Stanley Medical Hospital.
According to Jayaraman Venkatesan, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) TN state campaign committee member, “After several protests by the relatives of the affected patients and the members of AAP, a three-member committee was formed by the government, which began the probe in August and submitted the report at the end of September.”
Of the 16 affected patients, six had undergone dialysis in other hospitals before they came to Stanley, the rest had done so from this hospital.
In the report, the committee also accepted that the hospital had tried to send all the patients to other hospitals, in the beginning and then continued dialysis for the HCV-affected patients, he says, but the report fails to confirm that the dialysis machine in the hospital was not cleaned properly which was how the patients acquired the infection.
The AAP members are now demanding the dismissal of the Stanley Medical Hospital dean and directorate of medical education in connection with the issue and the recalling of the 234 patients who underwent dialysis in the last six months for an HCV test.
Dr A.L. Meenakshi Sundaram, dean of Stanley Medical Hospital, says, “All the 234 patients were traced and registered post was sent to each of them, besides informing the district joint directors of medical services and deans of various government college and hospitals, to conduct the test, if these patients approached them. The Stanley Medical Hospital began conducting the test from Friday. Of the 234 patients, kidney transplant was done on 46, which confirms that they were not affected by the virus.”
( Source : dc correspondent )
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