Ahmedabad : Doctors arrested after hepatitis kills 36

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

Re: /message/9959

The Hep. B outbreak due to medical negligence in Gujarath has killed till date

34.

What NACO is going to do about this?

In every HIV Messages for Health Care Practitioners we emphasize about HEP.B

(More fatal than AIDS.)

Will the local Police initiate case against these doctors without corruption and

without loop hole to save them?

What IMA is going to do?

I wish to know more from local AIDS NGO partners about the latest situation.

As a group what else we can do to prevent further such incidents?

Welcome more suggestions from FORUM MEMBERS.

Arun Menon. MPH, MSW.

HIV/AIDS Specialist.

UAE

e-mail: <arunmph@...>

[Guest guest]

Ahmedabad : Doctors arrested after hepatitis kills 36

[Editors note: How many of the patients might have accrued HIV

infection though the malpractice of using the same syringe on

multiple patients by these doctors. Gujarat Health Minister

Jaynarayan Vyas's decision to offer Hepatitis B vaccines for mass

vaccination is welcome. But, what about accesss to HIV counseling for

the victims and if infected access to care and treatment as well for them.

What is the take of HIV civil society in Gujart on this issue?. Any

initiative towards this direction from NACO or G SACS?]

__________________

1) Doctors arrested in India after hepatitis kills 36

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/22/asia/AS-India-Hepatitis-

Deaths.php

2) Hepatitis outbreak: 2 doctors booked for culpable homicide

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/Modasa-hepatitis-B-

deaths-Doctor-booked-for-homicide/articleshow/4168437.cms

3) 55,857 vaccinated in Modasa during largest ever drive against Hep B

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/55-857-vaccinated-in-modasa-

during-largest-ever-drive-against-hep-b/427283/

4) Hepatitis: hotels in Modasa to be closed

http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/23/stories/2009022355421100.htm

________________________________

1) Doctors arrested in India after hepatitis kills 36

The Associated Press, Published: February 22, 2009

AHMEDABAD, India: Authorities in western India have arrested eight

doctors after a hepatitis B outbreak killed at least 36 people,

officials said.

At least 100 others in the Modasa district of Gujarat state have been

infected with the virus in the past two weeks and are undergoing

treatment, state Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas said.

The doctors have been charged with medical malpractice for using the

same syringe on multiple patients, negligence and improper disposal

of medical waste, regional deputy superintendent of police K.K.

Mysorewala said late Saturday.

If convicted, they could face between two years and life in prison.

Hepatitis B is a liver disease that can lead to liver damage and

cancer.

It is spread through infected blood, semen and from using

contaminated needles. It can be prevented through vaccination.

Vyas said a mass immunization drive has been started in Modasa

following the outbreak.

Health care in India is often dismal, especially in small towns and

villages. Public hospitals and clinics are frequently filthy,

overcrowded and poorly equipped.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/22/asia/AS-India-Hepatitis-

Deaths.php

_________________________

2) Hepatitis outbreak: 2 doctors booked for culpable homicide

22 Feb 2009, 1715 hrs IST, PTI

AHMEDABAD: Two more doctors in Modasa town, at whose clinic several

Hepatitis patients were treated, have been booked under charges of

culpable homicide, police said on Sunday.

The FIR was filed late last night against Dr Govind Patel and his son

Chintal Patel, who run a clinic in Modasa town of Sabarkantha

district, they said, adding no arrests have been made so far.

The investigation is on in the case, they said. The outbreak of

hepatitis-B in Sabarkantha has claimed 34 lives, while over 100

patients are undergoing treatment at various hospitals across the

district.

" We have filed a complaint against Dr Govind Patel and his son

Chintan Patel. Most of the people infected with Hepatitis in Modasa

town had taken treatment from Patel in the last six months, " Deputy

Superintendent of police K K Maysorewala told PTI.

Patel has been booked under section 304 (culpable homicide not

amounting to murder) of the IPC as many of the patients treated by

him were found positive for Hepatitis and some of them have died,

Maysorewala said.

" When officials of health department had raided Patel's clinic they

had found used syringes, and undisposed medical waste, " he added.

Mysorewala said that they have also come to know from some people

that Patel's son, Chintan, who is not a qualified doctor used to

administer injections to patients.

According to police, the duo have also been booked under section 269

(negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to

life), 278 (making atmosphere noxious to health), besides 304 of the

IPC.

The Sabarkantha district police had earlier arrested six doctors on

charges of negligence from town, rural Modasa and Dhansura taluka.

They were later released on bail as they were booked under the

Medical Practitioners Act.

Meanwhile, four central medical teams have arrived at Sabarkantha

yesterday and began inoculation of the staff at public health

centres and government run hospitals.

The government has also decided to undertake mass vaccination in the

town and nearby villages.

Gujarat Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas had on Saturay said that the

government has ordered six lakh Hepatitis B vaccines for mass

vaccination programme which will be done in three rounds, beginning

from Modasa.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/Modasa-hepatitis-B-

deaths-Doctor-booked-for-homicide/articleshow/4168437.cms

___________________

3) 55,857 vaccinated in Modasa during largest ever drive against Hep B

Express News Service/ Ahmedabad A total of 55,857 people were

vaccinated on Monday, the first day of the largest vaccination drive

in and around Modasa against the Hepatitis B virus (HBV), initiated

by the Gujarat government.

The official death toll in Modasa reached 44 on Monday, while the

total number of affected has shot up to 137.

H S Patel, the Chief District Health Officer of Sabarkantha,

said: " We will continue the programme on Tuesday as we have been

unable to complete the vaccination of the entire population of

Modasa, which is 60,000. Besides, people from the nearby towns and

villages are also coming in for the vaccination drive. "

The Health Department had set up a total of 62 booths across Modasa

for the vaccination drive. Over a lakh disposable syringes and

needles were purchased from Ahmedabad and 60,000 adult vaccines and

30,000 paediatric doses were air-lifted from Hyderabad for the

purpose. The training of 400 medical workers was also wrapped up in a

day as part of the drive.

The core team with 400 staff members along with over a dozen expert

teams from various institutes in the state are camping in Modasa

since Sunday.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/55-857-vaccinated-in-modasa-

during-largest-ever-drive-against-hep-b/427283/

________________________

4) Hepatitis: hotels in Modasa to be closed

Manas Dasgupta

AHMEDABAD: All the hotels and restaurants in Modasa town in

Sabarkantha district in north Gujarat were ordered to be closed down

as the Hepatitis-B epidemic continued unabated with the death toll

going up to 37.

Unofficial sources, however, put the toll at 47. The State Congress

spokesman and the former leader of the Opposition in the Assembly,

Arjun Modhvadia, claimed that not less than 60 people had died due to

the epidemic in Modasa alone.

Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas, who visited the affected town,

announced free vaccination for all the people in Modasa to check the

spread of the disease. The government had already acquired more than

60,000 vials for the genetically mutated Hepatitis-B virus and about

six lakh vials were on way from Hyderabad.

Special teams of experts from the National Institute of Virology,

Pune, the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and the

National Institute of Communicable Diseases visited Modasa and other

affected-parts of Sabarkantha district to study the situation.

A special laboratory had also been opened at the Civil Hospital,

Ahmedabad, to test the Hepatitis virus.

About 30 new cases of jaundice were reported from Modasa and Idar

towns in Sabarkantha district while nine more cases were registered

in Olpad taluka in Surat district in far-off south Gujarat.

The Sabarkantha police have arrested a medical practitioner, Govind

Patel, on the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder

after it was found that most of the patients who died in the current

epidemic were initially treated in his clinic opposite the Modasa

primary health centre.

The police have found that the doctor indulged in the malpractice of

re-using disposable syringes that was believed to have caused spread

of the epidemic.

At least seven other doctors in the town were earlier booked for

various irregularities while three engineers in the Water Supply

Department suspended for carelessness in allowing sewage to mix with

potable water

http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/23/stories/2009022355421100.htm