Treated by a drunk doctor in Jalandhar hospital, 16-yr-old dies after injection

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 12

A 16-year-old boy, Vansh, of Mukerian (Hoshiarpur), who met with an accident and admitted to a private hospital, Guardian Hospital, died barely half an hour after he was administered an injection by a doctor who was allegedly in an inebriated condition here on Monday evening.

As soon as the family members of the victim came to know that the doctor was drunk, high drama was witnessed at the hospital as the victim’s kin started beating up the doctor and called the police.

The police on Tuesday registered a case against the doctor of the hospital who reportedly gave wrong treatment to the child in an inebriated state.

Police investigation revealed that the accused, Dr Jitendra, who was treating the patient, was under the influence of alcohol. The serious lapse during the duty hours was also confirmed in the medical examination conducted by the police on Monday night at the Civil Hospital. A case under Section 304 (culpable homicide) of the IPC has been registered against the doctor.

SHO, Police Division 6, Inspector Sukhjit Singh, said the case was registered following the statements of the victim’s family members. The alcohol test was conducted on the doctor at the Civil Hospital last night after the accusations of the family members, the report of which came back positive, added the SHO.

The victim was admitted to the hospital situated near Milkbar Chowk in Model Town at around 6.30pm. Chander Kumar, father of the victim, stated that his son had met with an accident in which a school bus was involved.

Following the accident, he was rushed to a hospital in Mukerian, where doctors further referred him to Guardian Hospital in Jalandhar. Vansh had received grievous injuries around his ribs.

His family members further alleged that their son died due to the negligence of the doctor and hospital staff. They alleged that Vansh died after the doctor injected him a wrong dose. The infuriated family members also thrashed hospital staff. After they blocked the road, the police reached the spot to take control of the situation. When things seemed to go out of hand, the police took the doctor for the medical examination.

The SHO stated that investigation was underway against the doctor. Action would be taken accordingly against him if the charge of medical negligence is proved against him.