It was a shock of life for 50-year-old Mohandas (name changed), when he learnt that the medicos attached to the dedicated covid health center (DCHC) in Bhayandar had wrongly subjected him to convalescent plasma therapy (CTP), even before the arrival of his RT-PCR test report to confirm if he was positive or not for the infection. The deadly goof-up has been reported from the Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Civil Hospital popularly known as Tembha hospital in Bhayandar (west) on Tuesday night. It came to light that Mohandas was administered with plasma which was meant for another critically ill 48-year old Covid-19 patient identified as Mohanram(name changed) who was under treatment at the hospital for the past one week. Fortunately, both the patients shared the same blood group which apparently reduced life threatening complications for the CTP recipient.
“The matter will be investigated and those responsible for the blunder will be taken to task. It will also be ensured that the patient in need of CTP gets it at the earliest.” said a medical officer.
While the deadly confusion is being attributed to a striking similarity in the name and age of both the patients, the incident has yet again exposed the glaring insensitivity and negligence by on-duty medical personnel while treating patients at the dedicated covid care facility. The relatives of the critically ill patient also claimed that they had managed to procure the plasma from Mumbai after three days of tireless efforts and by spending a whooping Rs. 40,000. Plasma therapy at various healthcare facilities in the twin-city faces roadblocks due to the lack of donors, thus limiting the use of the treatment. MBMC’s plasma center which became functional at the blood bank in Mira Road last year had a stock of just seven bags till Wednesday.
