KOLKATA:The West Bengal government-run SSKM super speciality hospital here on Wednesday courted yet another controversy after incumbent director Pradip Mitra threatened to move the court as he was transferred to a lower post after he had disallowed the dialysis of a pet dog belonging to a Trinamool Congress MLA’s relative.
Mitra was transferred to College of Medicine and Sagar Dutta Hospital at Kamarhati in neighbouring North 24 Parganas district. And the new post to which Mitra had been transferred was lower in rank to the Director’s post at SSKM, also a post-graduate research institute.
The relatively new Sagar Dutta Hospital, which is also a teaching institute, practically has no infrastructure and is one of the lower-rung state-run medical institutes in West Bengal.
Mitra had on June 10 refused to okay the dialysis of a pet dog belonging to a relative of TMC legislator Nirmal Majhi, who himself is a medical doctor by training and president of State Medical Council and West Bengal chapter of Indian Medical Council.
Senior nephrologists at the hospital had strongly objected to it. “It is not possible as virus from a dog’s body can be transmitted to the dialysis machine which can later endanger lives of human beings who will undergo dialysis,” they said.
Mitra blamed a “nexus within the SSKM Hospital and conspiracy by some officials at the state Health Directorate” and stated, “I had never approved dialysis of a dog at the Nephrology Department. It was head of the department, Rajendra Pandey, who initiated it and wanted it to be done. But the government is silent about him.”
Majhi’s recommendation for the dog’s dialysis at the state-owned super speciality hospital had led to a controversy as human beings have to wait for months on end to secure a date for dialysis.
Mitra also indirectly blamed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, as she holds the Health portfolio, saying, “Why should I telephone her? My transfer was approved by her. I am not taking up the post to which I have been transferred as it is a junior one. I wanted to take voluntary retirement but was informed by the Health Department officials that there was no such provision. I will initiate legal action.”