A farmer was admitted to the hospital with a blood clog in the head and doctors suggested an operation. His son bought blood units worth Rs 6,000 and gave it to the doctors. On investigation, it was found that the blood was adulterated with Normal Saline.
The Rachakonda police arrested the director of Venus hospital in LB Nagar, Hyderabad and two other officials for selling adulterated blood to patients. The case came to light after the family of one of the patients lodged a complaint with the police. Among those arrested were director Vakati Chakravarthy, manager Chepuri Shravan and technician Bandi Prem Kumar.
This happened when a farmer from Balapur, Narasimha Reddy got admitted to Aware Global Hospital after an accident on Thursday. his family was told that he needed an immediate surgery because there was a blood clot in his head. Following this, the family purchased 2 units of blood worth Rs 3,000 each and gave it to the doctors. When they inspected the blood before transfusion, they found that it was mixed with normal saline.
Narasimha's son lodged a complaint with the police, following which a raid was conducted at the blood bank from where samples were collected for investigation. Meanwhile, LB Nagar DCP M. Venkateswar Rao said that during interrogation, the trio admitted to the crime. Rao, speaking to the Deccan Chronicle said, "They are not only cheating patients to make money, but are also endangering others’ lives."
The trio have been kept in remand and police have seized two packets and some registers and records.
While that is just one offence they have committed, there is another graver one that has come to light. On further investigation, it was found that even the RBC units sold by the Venus hospital blood bank was reportedly broken (Haemolysed), which is considered unfit for transfusion. Officials from the TS Drug Control Administration (DCA) said, "Aware Gleneagles Global Hospital doctors said that the blood was Haemolysed. Samples of blood will be sent for tests and after receiving the reports, we will get to know the situation."
It was also found that the license of Venus Blood Bank was temporarily suspended because of certain violations. This happened when a special drive was conducted at Blood Banks between August and September in 2016. DCA officials are now trying to figure out how blood was transferred from one unit to the other. It is true that even a small hole in a unit of blood can contaminate it.
Speaking of the threats that diluted blood can lead to, DCA officials said that this depends on the health condition of the patient. "Normally, when saline is mixed with Red Blood Cells (RBC), there are chances of haemolysis of RBCs. When haemolysed RBCs are transfused, a patient may develop fevers, chills, Tachycardia," said Dr Sukesh Kumar, consultant Microbiologist and head of Blood Bank at Aware Gleneagles Global Hospitals. This can even lead to life-threatening situations, he further added, speaking to the New Indian Express.
