Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) Saturday directed the state government to pay Rs 3 lakh as compensation to the father of a 20-year-old girl who died of tuberculosis complications due to consumption of expired medicines for a long period in 2017.
The rights body came down heavily on the staff of the District Headquarters Hospital in Cuttack as their neglect led to the death of the girl, Gudi Nayak of Rajabagicha area in Cuttack. The Commission termed it as a ‘clear case of medical negligence’ on part of the persons in charge of providing medicines to the patients as well as authorities enjoined to supervise whether patients were being administered the right medicine or not.
While hearing a plea filed by human rights activists Pradipta Kumar Nayak, Akhand and Ranjit Sutar, Raghubir Dash, the acting chair person of the Commission asserted, “The state government for the negligence on the part of its servants is liable to pay compensation to Rajendra Nayak, father of the deceased girl.”
The Commission also asked the state government to initiate departmental action against the guilty persons whose sheer negligence had cost the life of Gudi on December 31, 2017 while undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College.
Following the examination of various reports as well as the statement by the father of the victim girl, the Commission found Rashmi Ranjan Jena, the Senior Treatment Supervisor at the district headquarters hospital, and Biswanath Jena, the Tuberculosis Health Visitor (TBHV), responsible for the untimely death of Gudi.
Rashmi was responsible for maintenance of medicine stock while Biswanath was in charge of supervision of DOT Centre in his assigned area.
The Commission directed the Commissioner-cum-Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department to submit the Action Taken Report in this regard September 6.
Gudi who was suffering from chronic category II tuberculosis had initially undergone treatment at the City Hospital here where she was prescribed the medicines.
Meanwhile, the ASHA worker allegedly gave her the medicines for TB supplied by the DHH in Cuttack for about four months.
Subsequently, when her condition did not improve, she consulted a private clinic in November 2017, where another doctor found that she was taking medicines that expired in September 2017. The Chief District Medical Officer immediately ordered a probe into it. In a critical condition, she was referred to the SCB Hospital later and she died while undergoing treatment in the TB ward of the hospital.
PNN