Police in Kerala’s Alappuzha district have booked the superintendent and staff of a government taluk hospital following the deaths of two dialysis patients, with families alleging medical negligence linked to unhygienic conditions.
Haripad police registered the case based on a complaint from the relatives of one of the deceased, who alleged that both men developed fever and diarrhoea soon after undergoing dialysis at the Haripad Taluk Hospital on December 29.
According to the complaint, severe infection caused by unhygienic conditions in the hospital’s dialysis unit led to their deaths.
Both patients were shifted to other hospitals after their condition deteriorated and died on subsequent days in late December, the complainants alleged.
The FIR was registered based on the complaint filed by the family of Ramachandran (60), one of the deceased patients, police said.
The complainant alleged that the dialysis unit of the taluk hospital was being operated in a negligent manner.
Though the accused--the superintendent of the hospital and the staff of the dialysis unit--were aware that the negligent condition there could pose a danger to human life, they ignored it, the complainant alleged.
A native of Haripad, Ramachandran died on December 31 while undergoing treatment at a multi-speciality hospital in Mavelikkara. The other man, Majeed, hailing from Kayamkulam, died at a medical college hospital in the district on December 30, the FIR added.
The case was registered against the hospital superintendent and the dialysis unit staff under sections 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 106 (1) (causing death by rash or negligent acts) of BNS, police added.