CHENNAI: In a shocking case, a 43-year-old man died at Ambattur on Monday, seconds after being administered a painkiller injection by a pharmacist, without medical prescription. The pharmacist has been detained based on a complaint lodged by relatives of the deceased.
The deceased, Kumar, was a tailor by profession. In the last one week, he had been given three such injections by the pharmacist Bhaskar. This detail was revealed by Bhaskar during interrogation. Bhaskar has claimed that he only did so because Kumar was adamant, and insisted that he be given an injection to get relief from shoulder and neck pain.
“Kumar went to the medical shop in Shanmugapuram and asked for medicine and injection to numb the pain,” said an officer. He fell unconscious at the shop itself and passersby rushed him to a private hospital in Puzhal. He is said to have suffered seizures there and was referred to the government hospital where he was declared brought dead.
Kumar, police say, had also been undergoing treatment for the pain at a private hospital. “As the pain worsened on Monday night, he requested the medical shop owner for a shot.” A senior officer said postmortem had been performed at Kilpauk GH, and it’s suspected that Kumar died of cardiac arrest. Kumar’s family members staged a protest at the police station demanding action.