Gross negligence by medical staff as newborn child nibbled by rats at Jharkhand hospital

RANCHI: In a case of gross medical negligence, a newborn child admitted to a Maternity and Child Unit in Jharkhand’s Giridih was nibbled by rats. The girl child was born on Friday and was put into an incubator in the child ward as her parents were told by the doctors that she was not able to breathe properly.

According to the father of the child, everything was fine till Sunday but the doctors called them early in the morning on Monday saying that the child needs to be admitted to a higher centre as her condition is critical, without informing them
about the incident. Later, when they were taken to PMCH in Dhanbad, they were stunned to see bandages tied on her feet, hands and head with stains of blood on it.

Clueless about what happened, when the parents reached PMCH and asked doctors about the bandages, they were informed that their child has been nibbled by rats on her feet, hands and head as well.

“We were not informed anything about it and we were told by the doctors in Dhanbad that my child has been nibbled by rats at different places in her body,” said father Ashok Singh. Everything happened in front of the hospital staff as the child was kept in the nearest incubator from the nurse’s desk, he added.

“This is the height of negligence as rats nibbled the child’s body despite the fact that she was kept in the incubator nearly 4 feet above from the ground,” said the father of the child. It is the responsibility of the hospital staff to keep an eye round the clock, but they failed to do so, he added.

Singh said that he informed his family members back home and they went to the Sadar Hospital and asked about it.

“Initially, doctors expressed their ignorance about any such incident but after some social activists like Sanjay Singh, Naresh Verma and others intervened, they admitted that the child has been nibbled by rats in the night and sought apologies for that,” said one of the family member Shakal Deo Singh.

If anything untoward happens with the child, they will file a police complaint against the hospital administration, he added.

The Giridih Civil Surgeon also admitted the fault and assured to take action against those found responsible for it.

“Yes, a child has been nibbled by rats and we are looking into the matter. Strict action will be taken against those found responsible for it,” said Civil Surgeon SP Mishra. Reports are yet to come, he added.

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