Transfusion of HIV blood: Panel seeks time till Jan 9 to give report
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:06.01.2019
After two lab technicians failed to turn up before the committee set up by the health department to probe the case of a pregnant woman given HIV-infected blood, the panel has sought an extension till January 9 to submit its report.
On December 26, health secretary J Radhakrishnan issued a government order asking a six-member committee under additional director of medical services Dr S Madhavi to inquire into the case and submit a report in a week. The panel, comprising senior doctors including Madras Medical College professor of internal medicine Dr S Raghunandhan, Tirunelveli Medical College professor of blood transfusion Dr S A Manimala and Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University associate professor Dr Swathandran Hamsawardhini, began its probe on December 28 The team, however, could not complete the inquiry on time as two lab technicians failed to depose before it. “It is not binding on them to appear before the committee. So, we cannot bring them by force. But we wanted to give them a chance to give their version,” a member of the committee said.
Preliminary inquiries by a team led by Virudhunagar joint director (health) Dr Manohar found that officials at the blood bank and HIV/ AIDS counsellors erred at least twice before transfusing HIV-infected blood to the woman. In 2016, the donor had given blood at a camp in Sattur in Virudhunagar district. The government hospital there tested the sample positive for HIV but the counsellor at the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre failed to inform the donor of his status. When he gave blood a second time in November, the blood was given to a pregnant woman in Sivakasi. “The testing kit used by the PHC is reliable and is supplied by NACO for centres across India. So far, it does not look like a machine error. We want the technicians to tell us what went wrong,” said a senior doctor.
Govt promises to take strong action
Chennai:
The government will take strong action against all those responsible for a pregnant woman being tansfused with HIV-infected blood in Sattur last year, health minister C Vijayabaskar told the assembly on Friday. Replying to queries from DMK president M K Stalin, the minister, however, refused to commit any timeline and said the government was waiting for the inquiry committee’s report.
Replying to a calling attention motion on the issue moved by DMK’s K K S S R Ramachandran, AIADMK’s Dr V P B Paramasivam and Congress legislative party leader K R Ramasamy, Vijayabaskar said three lab technicians had already been dismissed in this connection. TNN
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:06.01.2019
After two lab technicians failed to turn up before the committee set up by the health department to probe the case of a pregnant woman given HIV-infected blood, the panel has sought an extension till January 9 to submit its report.
On December 26, health secretary J Radhakrishnan issued a government order asking a six-member committee under additional director of medical services Dr S Madhavi to inquire into the case and submit a report in a week. The panel, comprising senior doctors including Madras Medical College professor of internal medicine Dr S Raghunandhan, Tirunelveli Medical College professor of blood transfusion Dr S A Manimala and Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University associate professor Dr Swathandran Hamsawardhini, began its probe on December 28 The team, however, could not complete the inquiry on time as two lab technicians failed to depose before it. “It is not binding on them to appear before the committee. So, we cannot bring them by force. But we wanted to give them a chance to give their version,” a member of the committee said.
Preliminary inquiries by a team led by Virudhunagar joint director (health) Dr Manohar found that officials at the blood bank and HIV/ AIDS counsellors erred at least twice before transfusing HIV-infected blood to the woman. In 2016, the donor had given blood at a camp in Sattur in Virudhunagar district. The government hospital there tested the sample positive for HIV but the counsellor at the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre failed to inform the donor of his status. When he gave blood a second time in November, the blood was given to a pregnant woman in Sivakasi. “The testing kit used by the PHC is reliable and is supplied by NACO for centres across India. So far, it does not look like a machine error. We want the technicians to tell us what went wrong,” said a senior doctor.
Govt promises to take strong action
Chennai:
The government will take strong action against all those responsible for a pregnant woman being tansfused with HIV-infected blood in Sattur last year, health minister C Vijayabaskar told the assembly on Friday. Replying to queries from DMK president M K Stalin, the minister, however, refused to commit any timeline and said the government was waiting for the inquiry committee’s report.
Replying to a calling attention motion on the issue moved by DMK’s K K S S R Ramachandran, AIADMK’s Dr V P B Paramasivam and Congress legislative party leader K R Ramasamy, Vijayabaskar said three lab technicians had already been dismissed in this connection. TNN
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