Pregnant woman given HIV infected blood in Tamil Nadu government hospital
Virudhunagar (TN), Dec 26 : A 24-year-old pregnant woman from this district contracted HIV after receiving blood donated by an infected man, prompting the Tamil Nadu government to review the stocks in all blood banks of the state to ensure they were free of the deadly virus.
An employee of a blood bank attached to a government hospital in Sattur, near here, has been dismissed, while two others have been suspended in connection with the incident, health department officials said on Wednesday.
The state government said it was making all efforts to prevent the impact of the virus on the woman, and stocks in all blood banks would be reviewed to ensure that such incidents did not recur.
Joint Director of Health Services, Virudhunagar, R Manoharan told PTI the woman was admitted to a private hospital in Sattur for the birth of her second child and the doctors advised her to have a blood transfusion citing haemoglobin deficiency.
Blood brought from a blood bank was transfused to her. It later emerged that the donor was HIV positive, the official said, adding the recipient's blood was also tested, which confirmed that she too had got infected by the virus.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that the blood bank staff had failed to screen the blood properly before supplying it to the private hospital. The personnel who tested the donor's blood had labelled it 'safe,' officials said.
State Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said action has been taken against the erring employees of the blood bank the district collector has also expressed 'regret', apparently to the family, through the revenue divisional officer.
"The government is taking steps to prevent the impact of HIV on that women with the help of technology. All stocks in blood banks will be analysed to ensure they are HIV-free," he told reporters in Chennai.
Meanwhile, the woman and her husband lodged a complaint with Sattur police Wednesday seeking action against the doctors, nurses and employees of the blood bank.
Speaking to reporters, the woman's husband held the Tamil Nadu government responsible for the incident and demanded that it provides the best treatment to her. The husband said that he does not want any job from the government but only the best treatment for his wife.
Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan visited the district and spoke to the woman.
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Kerala court sentences man to life imprisonment for doc's murder in hospital
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Kollam (PTI): A teacher convicted in the sensational murder of Dr Vandana Das inside a hospital here was sentenced to life term on Saturday, and the prosecution said it will move an appeal seeking death penalty for the accused. The victim's family also batted for "maximum punishment".
Dr Das was brutally killed inside a taluk hospital in May 2023 by G Sandeep.
Kollam Additional District and Sessions judge P N Vinod sentenced Sandeep to a total of 30 years for various offences under the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and said that after he serves that period, his life imprisonment for Das' murder will commence.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2.35 lakh on the convict.
Though the prosecution had sought death penalty for the accused during the arguments on sentence, the court was of the view that the case does not fall under the rarest-of-rare category to warrant the maximum punishment.
It was also of the view that there was a chance of the convict getting reformed as he told the court that the rest of his life would be one of repentance, the order on sentence said.
"At the same time, I agree with the stand of the prosecution to the effect that the sentence should commensurate with the gravity of the crime and the sentence should not only be reformative, but should also have a deterrent effect."
"In my view, the said objective can be achieved by directing that the term sentences that will be imposed will run consecutively and life sentence that has to be imposed will commence only after the expiration of terms sentences," the judge said.
After the verdict, special public prosecutor (SPP) Prathap G Padickal told reporters outside the court that he will recommend to the prosecution to file an appeal seeking enhancement of the life imprisonment to death penalty.
The victim's father said that the verdict has come as a relief for the family, but that he cannot authoritatively say whether his late daughter has got justice. He indicated his dissatisfaction with the punishment, saying that steps will be taken to seek its enhancement after discussions with the public prosecutor.
Dr Das' mother said that the family can only wish for the maximum punishment and it was up to the court to decide what sentence should be given. She said that the family will go in appeal, but declined to comment on whether her daughter got justice.
She tearfully said that she wants the convict to suffer the same pain that her daughter underwent "as he stabbed her 27 times".
The court on March 17 had convicted Sandeep for various offences under the IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful restraint.
It had also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.
Sandeep was brought to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the small hours of May 10, 2023 and he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.
A school teacher by profession, he had initially attacked the police officers and another person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young Dr Das, who could not escape to safety.
She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.
Dr Das was a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents.
She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.
Sandeep had called the emergency number 112, claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing close by his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg following an alleged quarrel.
He was then taken to the hospital for dressing the wound.
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