Wrong blood transfusion claims unborn baby's life

The hospital authorities have admitted to the lapse. The woman, Suman Devi, is critical and is being treated upon by a team of doctors in the PGI Chandigarh. The need to give blood to the woman was felt by doctors in the hospital.

The doctors in the hospital felt that the woman needed blood transfusion since her haemoglobin fell below 7.5. There was another woman with the same name (Suman) in the gynaecology ward who was also to be administered blood. The blunder occurred when blood units of the two women got exchanged. None of the doctors or the paramedic staff realised the mistake.

Sources in the hospital said even after the entire unit of the wrong blood went into Suman’s body, she did not show any immediate signs of reaction or fluctuation in blood pressure. Later during the day, as medical complications started to hit the woman, she was rushed to the premier hospital, the PGI.

Dr M P Singh, medical superintendent of the sector 16 hospital, admitted that wrong blood transfusion led to the entire complication. An inquiry has been ordered.

In February 2010, patient Amrik Singh was admitted to the ICU in another city premier government hospital in sector 32 and was given wrong blood. He survived after several days of treatment. Suman, along with her husband, lives in a colony in the city inhabited mostly by daily wagers and unskilled labourers.