The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF) held a press conference at Kolkata's IPGME&R Hospital on Tuesday to reiterate the longstanding concerns raised since the RG Kar protests. These concerns include the alleged existence of medical rackets supplying banned and substandard medicines to state government-run medical colleges and hospitals.
The recent use of expired Ringers Lactate saline on women at Midnapore Medical College has, according to the WBJDF, validated their claims. They called on the state government to take strict action against those involved in the alleged racket.
“When we met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, we said corruption isn’t limited to RG Kar. Individuals like [former RG Kar principal] Sandip Ghosh and others [accused by the CBI] are present across the state’s medical facilities,” said Dr Ashfaqullah Naiya, a prominent member of the WBJDF.
A woman, who had undergone a caesarean delivery, died on January 10 at Midnapore Medical College, allegedly after being administered Ringers Lactate saline produced by the banned Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals Limited. Three other women fell critically ill and were transferred to the SKKM hospital via an emergency green corridor on Sunday.
“Midnapore Medical College and Hospital is one of the largest hospitals in both Medinipur districts. Yet it doesn’t have a nephrology department and 24-hour blood testing facilities,” the WBJDF doctors said, indicating that this defeats the state government’s claim that West Bengal’s healthcare facilities are among the best in the country.
Speculations have also been made that errors by junior doctors during caesarean procedures could have worsened the conditions of new mothers. The WBJDF rebutted these claims, saying junior doctors cannot perform surgeries without senior supervision. The front accused the government of attempting to deflect blame for its failures onto junior doctors.
“We were ensured that actions would be taken against corrupt people in the state’s medical sector. But nothing has been done. A visit to any state government hospitals would reveal the presence of banned medicines,” said Dr Debashish Haider of RG Kar.
The state government had formed a 13-member expert committee to investigate the Midnapur hospital incident, which submitted its preliminary findings. Based on the report, the government decided to involve the CID for further investigation.
“The investigation report will show everything from top to bottom, including who all were involved, whether someone at some level did not perform their job properly,” West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant said.
#WATCH | Howrah: On the death of a pregnant woman at Midnapore Medical College and Hospital due to alleged medical negligence, West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant says, "The CID will investigate all aspects of the case. We will investigate it from all angles, as well as a… pic.twitter.com/A68IUNiL3q
— ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2025
“Further the CID will investigate to find if there were any procedural lapses or violations of SOPs which resulted in the death. We are having an administrative and a CID enquiry to ensure that we don’t miss any angle or aspect,” he added.
The WBJDF members hoped for a thorough and fair investigation where a junior staff, including doctors and nurses, would not be made a scapegoat.
