KOZHIKODE: ‘What’s the weight?’ The most significant query about a newborn. Now, what if hospitals cannot determine the exact weight of the baby? Prescriptions and treatment processes go haywire, and the health of the baby goes for a toss.
To the surprise of Legal Metrology Department (LMD) officers, as many as 26 private hospitals in five districts in the health-conscious state were found to be using faulty weighing machines. Officers fear it may have led to the wrong prescription of medicines for many newborns.
The department has booked cases against these hospitals for not complying with standards in using baby weighing scales.
LMD has mandated all hospitals to use weighing machines provided by agencies accredited by the department. Also, it is compulsory these weighing scales should have the LMD’s seal of annual verification ensuring standardisation.
“All these hospitals were found using weighing scales procured from unauthorised agencies and none of them was produced before us for annual verification,” LMD north zone deputy controller Ramaprasad Shetty told Express. “Some hospitals didn’t even have a separate weighing machine for the newborn. Even more surprisingly, most of these hospitals were high-profile ones with a high patient footfall.”
According to doctors, tampered baby weighing scales are a matter of serious concern.“In the case of adults, small variations don’t matter much,” said Dr K R Subbaraman, Kozhikode Medical College Pediatrics head.“But when it comes to the newborn, it is an issue of serious concern. The weight of the baby has to be accurate while prescribing medicines.”All government hospitals, Shetty said, procure weighing scales from accredited agencies.