Nurse administers saline to corpse in Odisha hospital

JHARSUGUDA: Health minister Naba Kishore Das on Thursday ordered a probe into a video clip that surfaced on social media in which a nurse is seen administering saline to an allegedly dead patient at Jharsuguda district headquarters hospital on Wednesday.
“I have sought an inquiry report from the Jharsuguda chief district medical officer. After it is submitted, we will take action as per law,” the minister said.
Reports said Khetramani Kishan (30), a resident of Jalibahal village under Laikera block of the district, had tried to commit suicide by consuming poison and was brought to the district headquarters hospital by his family on Wednesday.
The video of the nurse giving an allegedly dead Kishan saline was captured by his brother Chatralal Kishan. In the clip, which went viral on Wednesday, he is seen asking the nurse why she was administering saline to a dead body. Kishan later accused the hospital of negligence and said his brother had died as no doctor would attend to him. He also said the nurse was giving saline to the body only to show that he had not died.
The doctor on duty, Tanuja Patra, who treated Kishan, said the nurse administered saline as he had not yet declared the patient dead. “The patient was conscious when I treated him but his blood pressure was very low. The nurse was doing her duty as I had not declared him dead yet. After I was informed of his condition, I examined him again and found that he had passed away.”
The CDMO in-charge Dolamani Patel said, “No injection was given after the patient was declared dead. The patient had consumed poison and was brought to the hospital in a critical condition around 1 pm on Wednesday. He died during treatment.”
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