A patient who had been admitted to a private hospital with dengue, died allegedly after being given juice in his drip instead of platelets in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj town.
According to reports, the hospital was sealed after a video purportedly showing mosambi (sweet lemon) juice in the bottle used for giving the drip, went viral on social media on Friday.
The attendants of the patient alleged that the latter had been admitted to the hospital on October 14 with symptoms of dengue. As his platelet count was extremely low, the doctors asked the family members to arrange five units of blood platelets. They alleged that the hospital sold them blood platelets at exorbitant prices.
"The condition of the patient deteriorated during the transfusion of the third unit. The third bag had mosambi juice instead of blood platelets. The doctors then referred him to another hospital where he died a little later," one of the family members said.
The hospital management, however, refuted the allegations and said that the patients' platelet count had declined to 17,000 following which he was given blood platelets through drip. He, however, had a reaction after the transfusion of the third unit following which he was referred to another hospital. He died two days later, it added.
UP health minister Brijesh Pathak said that the district officials had sealed the hospital. "A probe will be conducted into the matter and stern action will be taken against the hospital management if the allegations are found to be true," Pathak added.
Published 21 October 2022, 12:12 IST