GMCH mixes up IDs, wrong family informed of patriarch’s death

Nagpur: In a case of mistaken identity, a Tajabad family went into mourning after learning about the death of their 62-year-old patriarch on Thursday, before discovering to their joyful relief within a couple of hours that he was still alive. While being handed over the body at the morgue, the son had discovered that the body of Covid deceased being handed over was not his father.
The body belonged to another man, who had passed away in the Covid ICU at Government Medical College and Hospital on Thursday. GMCH officials said the deceased’s relatives were identified later, and the body was cremated by civic officials.
GMCH dean Dr Sajal Mitra, who has set up an inquiry into the incident, said the case papers of two patients were inadvertently mixed up during internal shifting of one patient. “The sticker on the body bag carried patient details and relative’s contact number as per the wrong file, which led to the confusion. Though, it shouldn’t have happened,” he said.
Dr Mitra said there were a lot of similarities as far as notes regarding condition of both patients were concerned. “Both were critically ill and not in a position to tell their names while being shifted,” he said.
The 62-year-old man’s son, Ajju Mulla, told TOI that he received a call at 5am from a doctor in the Covid ward informing him about his father’s demise.
“We were asked to come by 9am to take possession of the body. The community volunteers arrived around 2pm and wore the PPE kits. They asked us to see the face one last time before packing the body bag. I was shocked to see that it was not my father’s body,” he said.
Mulla’s cousin said he had reached Tajabad cemetery and started preparing for burial and namaz-e-janaza. “The grave (pit) was ready and we had also purchased the kafan (shroud). Then I received a call from my cousin that they were yet to get the body,” the cousin said.
The son recalled that around 1pm, he also received a call from the Covid ward, asking where his father was as he was missing from his bed. As they were in mourning, Mulla found the call a bit strange, but ignored it.
He grew suspicious, however, when he saw the face of the deceased person didn’t have a beard which his father always sported. “The body bag is transparent above the face. As they unzipped the cover, I became sure it was not him,” he said.
He added that initially the doctors said the beard may have been shaved off, and asked him to identify the body from a bit closer. Eventually, they realized Mulla’s father was still alive in Covid ICU. He later said his father’s file is still untraceable.
Mulla’s father had been admitted on August 3 after suffering a fall at home followed by paralytic attack. He was later traced to Covid Ward no 3. A video was also shot by doctors and shown to Mulla and his relatives, who gathered in large numbers after the fiasco.