Keonjhar: The National Human Rights Commission has issued notice to the chief secretary to furnish the action taken report on the death of a woman because of transfusion of wrong blood group at the district headquarters hospital.

The rights panel, acting on a petition moved by rights activist Sangita Swain, asked chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi to furnish the report or disciplinary action would be taken against the erring doctors and para-medical employees of the hospital within six weeks.

The commission has observed that the death of a person because of the transfusion of wrong group of blood is the worst example of medical negligence committed by the doctors of a state-owned hospital. It also noted that an amount of Rs 3,00,000 ought to be provided as an interim relief to the next of kin of the deceased.

Sukanti Nayak of Puruna Bazar of Keonjhar township died on December 14, 2016 following her admission at district headquarters hospital. The doctors prescribed for blood transfusion as she had fall in the haemoglobin level.

"The victim died for the criminal negligence and utter carelessness on part of the hospital authorities. Instead of O-positive, she was administered A-positive blood group. After transfusion of the mismatched blood, the sick woman died instantly," the petition moved by Swain had maintained.

Medical goof-up on part of the government-run health care units had earlier come to light in other parts the state. A girl child, down with high fever and respiratory ailment, had been wrongfully administered anti-rabies vaccine at Jagatsinghpur district headquarters hospital last year. In another slip-up, a woman had wrongly been branded as HIV-AIDS infected in Kendrapara district.