In a shocking case of medical negligence, attendants at a sub–divisional hospital at Lalbag in Murshidabad district of West Bengal on Wednesday cleaned a woman with acid instead of antiseptic solution after she delivered a child. The 28–year–old woman sustained critical internal and external burn injuries.

Sikha Biwi was admitted to the hospital on October 31 with labour pain and on Wednesday, she delivered a boy. Though the hospital claimed that the baby was born dead, the family members of Sikha said it was alive.

Acting CMOH Birendra Kumar Shau said a three–member team will inquire the incident but claimed it happened by mistake. “It was not done intentionally. The attendants washed the patient with the acid by mistake. The colour of the acid and the anti–infectant is almost similar. The bottles somehow got mixed. A sweeper must have kept the bottle of the acid there.We are looking into the matter.”

Shau said the woman gave birth to dead baby. “The death of the baby does not have any connection with the mother being cleaned with acid. We are treating the patient as she has sustained burn injuries,” he added.

Local MLA Saoni Singha Roy, who visited the hospital, said she would write a letter to the CM asking for compensation for the patient.

The relatives of Sikha Biwi have lodged a complaint of medical negligence with the local police station in Murshidabad district.

Meanwhile, tension gripped the state–run hospital SSKM hospital in Kolkata on Wednesday morning after a patient died due to alleged medical negligence. The patient, Jinnat Bibi, 50, a resident of Basirhat, was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday with head injuries. The patient’s relatives alleged that after she was admitted in a critical condition, the doctors on duty had kept her on oxygen at that time. They said when the oxygen cylinder was exhausted on Wednesday, they requested the authorities to replace it. ... contd.