Paediatrician Suspended For ‘Prescribing Wrong Medicine’ In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Wednesday suspended Dr Biju Agrawal (Paediatric) of Sub-Divisional Hospital (SDH), Patnagarh, for allegedly prescribing wrong injection for a one-year-old, suffering from diarrhoea, and asking the parents to buy it from outside.

According to sources, the discrepancy was detected during the visit of Health Secretary’s visit to Patnagarh SDH.

The patient was a one-year-old child and so in any case, Netilmicin injection or Amikacin injection should not have been prescribed. But, he still wrote the substitute, which the family had to buy from outside, the sources said.

Netilmicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic used for a wide variety of serious bacterial infections, such as respiratory tract infections, skin infections, urinary tract infections, and infections of the blood, abdomen or bones, according to MedicineNet.

The action was taken as the government had adopted a zero tolerance for violation of instructions under Niramaya, the sources added.

The Niramaya scheme was launched in 2015 to provide free medicines to patients in all government hospitals in the state. The Health Department was also asked  to ensure that doctors of state-run hospitals prescribe medicines supplied under this scheme.

The government order further said that the headquarters of Agrawal will be Balangir district hospital during the disciplinary proceeding initiated against him and he cannot leave the place without the prior permission of the competent authority.