Administered ‘Ceftriaxone’ injection,2 women die, 17 others fall sick

Srikakulam: Two women patients died and 17 others fell sick at the RIMS hospital here on Saturday after administration of antibiotic injection for seasonal ailments. According to RIMS resident medical officer (RMO), Dr Bammidi Chinna Appala Naidu, the two deceased were identified as E Sailoo (24) of Kotturu village and S Anitha (35) of Palasa town.  Antibiotic injection ‘Ceftriaxone’ was administered to 19 women patients at the female ward in the hospital on Friday night.

After some time they started  vomiting, complained of body pains and their blood pressure readings were low. Noticing this, the RIMS duty doctors immediately  initiated treatment. Out of the 19 patients, nine were shifted to the critical care unit (CCU), three were shifted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and seven remained at the female ward.  

Due to deterioration of health condition, three patients E Sailoo, S Anitha and D Santhamma were shifted to Visakhapatnam KGH hospital on Saturday morning. Out of the three,  Sailoo and Anitha died while undergoing treatment at the hospital on Saturday evening. On receiving information about the incident,  RIMS Director A Krishna Veni ordered an inquiry and reported the matter to the Director of Medical Education (DME). 

RIMS RMO Chinna Appala Naidu inspected the entire female ward, CCU and ICUs at RIMS and inquired about the health condition of patients on Saturday morning. All the 19 women patients were earlier admitted at RIMS due to viral fevers and other seasonal ailments.  RIMS RMO collected the used injection bottles from the ward and sent them to pharmacology department after preliminary verification. They will send the samples to State pharmacy vigilance wing. Meanwhile, Srikakulam division drug inspector A Krishna inspected the injection samples at RIMS.

District Collector K Dhanunjaya Reddy ordered an inquiry into the incident. Administration of ‘Ceftriaxone’ injection has been stopped at all wards in the RIMS after the incident.  On the other hand, relatives of the deceased demanded action against the RIMS staff and compensation to the two families.