BELAGAVI: Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Thursday informed the Assembly that the State Government has taken serious note of the maternal deaths in Ballari government hospital and is ready to order a judicial probe to bring out the truth.
His statement in the Assembly comes a day after the BJP raised the issue in the House attacking the State Government over the recent maternal deaths in Ballari. “If I am found guilty, I am ready to face any action,” Dinesh said, adding that there was no question of sparing the guilty.
“A total of 34 Cesarean deliveries were performed at Ballari government hospital on November 9, 10 and 11. Of these, seven women fell seriously ill, and five of them died. Immediately, a team of doctors from the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences in Bengaluru was sent to Ballari. This team submitted its report on November 14, which found that the doctors at the hospital followed all the rules and there was no negligence on their part. It was found that the deaths occurred owing to the adverse effects of Ringer’s lactate IV fluid given to the mothers after the Cesarean,” Dinesh said.
Following this, the samples of the Ringer’s lactate IV fluid supplied by Paschim Banga Pharmaceutical were sent for tests, and the report showed that the samples had endotoxic elements. Dinesh said that as the Ringer’s lactate IV fluid supplied by the same company was sent to other hospitals in the state, an audit of the recent maternal deaths will be conducted.
“The government had received information about the quality of the IV solution in March and April. Those who were given this IV solution at Chitradurga District Hospital experienced chills. A few patients faced similar symptoms at Gundlupet Hospital. Taking a serious note of this, the State Government conducted tests at NABL and Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation Limited labs. It was found that the IV solution was of Not Standard Quality. Based on this, Paschim Banga Pharmaceutical was blacklisted, and the supply of 192 batches of Ringer Lactate IV solution supplied by the firm was stopped," the minister added.
The government had filed a case in court against the pharmaceutical company based on the quality test report from the Central drug laboratory, he said. However, NABL lab then reported that it was not substandard, he added.
“By June, the demand for Ringer’s lactate IV fluid increased owing to a large number of dengue and other cases. The government then re-checked the quality of 192 batches of the fluid, held back 22 batches as they were of poor quality, and supplied the batches that cleared the tests to hospitals.
No patient experienced any side effects in August, September and October. In the wake of this, the IV fluid from the same company was supplied to Ballari Hospital on November 9. After this, a series of deaths of women occurred,” the minister elaborated.
Dinesh said that most pharma companies have set up separate units to manufacture drugs to export, and they follow all the international norms. “But the condition of the drugs supplied in India is deplorable. These pharma companies are influencing central and state drug regulatory agencies,” he said.
