As many as 20 female patients and their eight newborn babies fainted after an injection was administered to them during post-operative care at the Lady Aitchison Hospital (LAH) on Sunday night.
According to details, the nurses administered the anti-biotic injection to around 20 females while at least seven to eight of them, whose condition got aggravated, were immediately shifted to the ICU along with their babies. The condition of all the females and the babies was stated to be stable due to the timely efforts by the doctors.
The relatives and attendants protested against the doctors, alleging them of administering expired injection. As they tried to ransack the infrastructure, the hospital’s administration called in the police to rescue the doctors and staff. Fozia, a relative of a patient, claimed that the hospital administration did not behave properly with the patients.
She claimed that they requested the hospital staff to shift the aforesaid female patients immediately to the ICU but they showed lethargic attitude and tried to snub them in order to hide their mistake. The LAH Medical Superintendent Dr Shagufta Zaidi, while talking to the media, confirmed that several patients suffered reaction after administration of anti-biotic drug to control infection among the patients.
However, she said the doctors properly looked after the patients and their condition was now quite stable. She further informed that the hospital administration had reported the case to the Health Department and the drug was also sent to the laboratory for examination. She informed that the hospital administration called the police to prevent any untoward incident as patients’ relatives started protesting in panic.
Provincial Health Minister Dr Saeed Elahi told media that he had ordered an inquiry into the matter besides ordering the ban on the use of the drug across Punjab. The police said they had received a call on 15 and immediately rushed to the Lady Aitchison Hospital, where around 25 people were protesting against the doctors. However, they said they had assured the protesters that their relatives were in stable condition as doctors had been treating them properly.
They said the people dispersed peacefully after being assured that the condition of all the patients was not critical.