Bahawalpur hospital caught boiling blood before transfusion

A hospital in Bahawalpur has been caught boiling blood before transfusing it into patients, a private media outlet reported Monday.

According to reports, the staff of Victoria Hospital, on the directions of senior doctors, is continuing to boil blood bags on a stove before the patients could be administered a transfusion.

While the hospital staff says they boil blood to normalise its temperature as it remains in cold storage of blood banks, it merits a mention that medical experts strongly discourage the practice for it can affect kidneys of patients.

Blood transfusion is a routine medical practice all over the world but the 2017 case of two siblings contracting HIV in an Islamabad hospital after blood transfusion had triggered debate about “safe blood” in the country.