Pregnant woman was administered ‘banned’ drug in OGH Hyderabad?
HYDERABAD: When the whole health department is reeling under pressure of maternal deaths, people in know of the things in Telangana’s Health department were shocked upon finding that drugs of a particular pharmaceutical company which was asked not to be used, were administered to Rajitha.
Sources said that Oxytocin and another drug of the company were given to her which worsened her condition.
The mother, who died on Tuesday, suffered from respiratory problems for the past three months. Rajitha’s condition deteriorated a few hours after the drug was administered.
“Even if women who gave birth suffer from respiratory problem, their health condition does not deteriorate so fast. Rajitha was doing well after surgery. Her condition worsened within an hour of giving Oxytocin (given to contract uterus) to her,” sources said.
Sources in Telangana State Medical Services and Infrastructure Development Corporation (TSMIDC) also confirmed that drugs of the company are not supposed to be used and they have asked hospitals not to use them.
Sources said that when checked, drugs of the company were found in OGH, Government Maternity Hospital in Sultan Bazaar, and they were used too. In a secret move, all the drugs have been pulled from shelves of medical stores in the hospitals and new drugs have replaced them. Doctors in government hospitals said that clear instructions were received not to use the drugs.
Shockingly, women who underwent regular surgeries at Maternity Hospital in Sultan Bazaar, suffered from heavy bleeding after the drugs of the company were given to them, as per sources. After two maternal deaths at the Sultan Bazaar Hospital, only normal deliveries were taken up there and caesarean cases were directed to Niloufer Hospital.
“Women who underwent normal deliveries at the hospital in Sultan Bazaar suffered from heavy bleeding as they were given the scrapped drugs. While those who underwent caesarean surgery at Niloufer did not as they were given other drugs,” sources said.
‘We must find the root cause’
Telangana State’s special chief secretary Rajeshwar Tiwari said they want to get to the root cause of maternal deaths. When asked if drugs which were asked not be used were administered to mothers, he said cause of death can be known only after inquiry. He said: “We must inquire why it happened. We must get to root cause.”
Why was she not attended to at MICU in Niloufer?
President of NGO Helping Hand Foundation Mujtaba Askari, asked: “When the Maternal Intensive Care Unit was formally launched last week at Niloufer, why was this case (Rajitha) sent to OGH?” Doctors at Niloufer said that since high risk caesarean cases from Maternity Hospital in Sultan Bazaar are sent to Niloufer, all beds in MICU were occupied.