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Fake doc in ward: Nursing home's licence suspended

Fake doc in ward: Nursing home's licence suspended

Time of India5 hours ago
Kolkata: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) has directed the health officials to suspend the licence of nursing home on Diamond Harbour Road after a person who was not a doctor attended to a pregnant woman, who ultimately suffered a miscarriage.
A penal amount of Rs 1 lakh has also been imposed on the nursing home.
According to the complaint lodged with the health panel, Alka Roy was taken to Bellona Nursing home in Mominpore with severe abdominal pain at night. At the emergency ward, she was attended to by Avinash Kumar, who introduced himself as a resident medical officer. Kumar prescribed a pain relieving injection and administered it to the expecting mother.
She subsequently suffered complications and miscarriage.
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"When we got a response from the nursing home, we were taken aback. This Avinash Kumar is not a doctor but an assistant to the medical director of the nursing home, who would check blood pressure of patients," said WBCERC chairperson Justice (retd) Ashim Banerjee.
The commission also found that Kumar had prescribed the medicine on a signed letterhead of the medical director.
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The medical director said that at that time, he was conducting a procedure in the OT.
The health panel said that while not going into whether the injection caused the miscarriage or not, Kumar posing as a doctor, and prescribing and administering an injection itself was a criminal offence. The commission also asked how the medical director could leave blank prescription letterheads bearing his signature which Kumar could access.
"We have asked the police to take Kumar into custody and come to a logical conclusion," Banerjee added.
Till health officials submit a complete report on the case to the commission, the nursing home has been barred from admitting any new patient. However, it can continue treatment of patients who are already admitted.
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