50 senior doctors of RG Kar hospital resign in solidarity with medics on fast
Kolkata (PTI): Around 50 senior doctors of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital here on Tuesday tendered their resignations in a mark of solidarity with medics who have been on fast-unto-death demanding justice for the deceased woman doctor, sources in the health facility said.
The decision to resign en masse was taken at a meeting of the heads of various departments of the state-run hospital on Tuesday morning, they said.
“This has been decided at today’s meeting of the HoDs. All 50 senior doctors of our hospital have signed their resignation letters. This is to express our solidarity towards those young doctors who are fighting for a cause,” a senior doctor told PTI.
Senior doctors at NRS Medical College and Hospital were also mulling to follow the footsteps of their colleagues in the RG Kar hospital, he said.
The Joint Platform of Doctors, West Bengal pledged solidarity with the junior medics who have been demanding justice for the rape and murder of the woman doctor of R G Kar hospital and an end to the "corruption-ridden" healthcare system.
While junior doctors have been on fast-unto-death for the last four days voicing their demands, there has been "no response from the appropriate authority to solve the issues", a statement issued by the platform said.
The doctor's platform also voiced concern over the health condition of those who are on the fast-unto-death and said they are fighting for “campus democracy and patient-friendly system".
"In this situation, we will stand in solidarity," the statement added.
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'Low-quality' catheters supplied to West Bengal govt hospitals at high price, probe ordered
Kolkata (PTI): The West Bengal health department has launched a probe into the supplies of allegedly low-quality and locally made catheters at a high price to several government hospitals, posing a risk to the lives of patients undergoing treatment in these facilities, officials said.
Such central venous catheters (CVCs) were allegedly supplied to at least five medical colleges and hospitals in the state, defying allocation of international standard-compliant CVCs, they said.
The distribution company, which has been accused of supplying these catheters to government hospitals, admitted to the fault but placed the blame on its employees.
"We started checking stocks some time back and found these locally made CVCs in my hospital store. These catheters are of low quality as compared to those allocated by the state. We have informed the state health department," a senior official of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital told PTI.
Low-quality catheters were also found in the stores of other hospitals, which indicates "possible involvement of insiders in the scam", a health department official said.
The low-quality CVCs were supplied by a distributor in the Hatibagan area in the northern part of Kolkata for the last three to four months, he said.
"Such kinds of local CVCs are priced around Rs 1,500 but the distributor took Rs 4,177 for each device," the official said.
A CVC is a thin and flexible tube that is inserted into a vein to allow for the administration of fluids, blood, and other treatment. It's also clinically called a central line catheter.
"An initial probe revealed that the distribution company Prakash Surgical had supplied the low-quality and locally manufactured catheters to several government hospitals instead of the CVCs of the government-designated international company.
"All the units will be tested and a proper investigation is on to find out who benefited from these supplies," the health department official said.
The distribution company blamed its employees for the supply of inferior quality catheters.
"I was sick for a few months. Some employees of the organisation made this mistake. We are taking back all those units that have gone to the hospitals. It's all about misunderstanding," an official of the distribution company told PTI.
According to another state health department official, a complaint was lodged with the police in this connection.
Asked about how many patients were affected by the usage of such low-quality CVCs, the official said, "The probe would also try to find that out".
According to sources in the health department, some of the staff of the hospitals' equipment receiving departments and some local officials of international organisations might be involved in the alleged irregularities.
