BENGALURU: A woman has accused a doctor and a nurse of a private hospital of working in an inebriated condition and injuring her by wrongly inserting a needle at 4-5 places on her hand while administering saline drips intravenously.
The jurisdictional KS Layout police said they have registered a non-cognizable report (NCR) and would write to the Karnataka Medical Council (KMC) about the allegation and seek its opinion before initiating any action.
Sneha Bhat, a resident of Uttarhalli, told police in her complaint that she visited Pragathi Multi-speciality Hospital, Konanakunte Cross, with high fever on Nov 3 night. "Male nurse Mahendra (whose duty hours were over) and Dr Pradeep (who wasn't a duty doctor) attended to me. They poked the needle at 4-5 places on my hand while administering saline drops, injuring my hand. They both were under the influence of alcohol and misbehaved with me," she told police.
Bhat immediately rushed to KS Layout police station and orally complained. Mahendra, who was brought to the police station the same night, confessed to having consumed alcohol. The woman lodged a formal complaint on Nov 4. Dr Pradeep, who visited the station that evening, denied the allegations.
Deputy commissioner of police (south) Lokesh Jagalasar said they are probing the case from all possible angles. "We've registered an NCR. In connection to the allegations of injury caused by medical negligence, we've written to KMC, seeking its opinion. We've taken statements from the doctor and the male nurse."
Meanwhile, another police officer said based on their request, the district health officer (DHO) visited the hospital and took down details of the incident. The DHO's report is awaited.
Hospital denies charges
Dr SS Gururaj, MD of Pragathi hospital, brushed aside the allegations of medical negligence and of staffers working while drunk. "The complainant visited our hospital on Nov 3 night with fever. After checking, we decided to administer her saline drips. While searching for the vein, our staffers inserted the needle in her hand at 3-4 places. It made the complainant angry. Our staffers replied to her that since her hand was thick, they were finding it difficult to find a vein. She got angry and shouted at our staffers, saying they were body-shaming her. She left without availing treatment," he explained.
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