Outdated drugs at G B Pant hospital: Panel disbanded

NEW DELHI, APRIL 17: The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate CMM R K Gauba on Friday relieved the S K Aggarwal committee, formed to investiga...

NEW DELHI, APRIL 17: The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate CMM R K Gauba on Friday relieved the S K Aggarwal committee, formed to investigate the use of outdated drugs and devices at G B Pant Hospital, and directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police Crime to write a formal letter to the AIIMS director for the creation of a new medical board.

After a request from the People8217;s Union for Civil Liberties PUCL, the CMM also directed the Delhi Drug Controller to assist the investigation. A nominee will be appointed by the drug controller who will help the IO seize and seal expired drugs and devices from the hospital. He further ordered the Investigating Officer to submit a progress report on May 7, the next date of hearing.

CMM Gauba also expressed unhappiness over the appointment of the last set of committee members. He recalled the objections raised by PUCL when the Director of Health Services, following the court order, decided to appoint Maulana Azad Medical College MAMC and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospitalofficials as committee members. 8220;I have already dwelt at some length on the aspect that MAMC is attached to LNJP and G B Pant hospitals. And the doctors are generally transferred from one institution to other. In terms of such close association, I feel it was probably not desirable to pick members of the expert committee from there,8221; the CMM said.

Earlier, the representative of the Director of Health Services told the court that committee members had expressed their inability to carry out the investigation. On April 8, committee chairman Dr S K Aggarwal, Director of Maulana Azad Medical College, informed the court that several doctors were reluctant to assist in the work and he himself was not interested as many of the accused were personally known to him. He told the court: 8220;Since the complainant has questioned its committee competence to objectively examine the matter, it is desirable that the departments concerned should look into the matter8221;.

The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate had summoned DrAggarwal and the Director of Health Services to explain the progress made in the case following fresh allegations by the PUCL counsel that expired drugs and devices were still being used in the hospital.

In its complaint, the PUCL has alleged that hospital officials have been indulging in deliberate malpractices by enforcing use of expired, deteriorated and contaminated drugs, and damaged devices purchased at least eight years ago.