INDIA. Mumbai: A patient admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s Rajawadi hospital, located at Ghatkopar East in North East Mumbai, died on Wednesday, within a day after his eye was reportedly nibbled by a rat.
There was a furore after the patient Shrinivas Nagesh Yallapa (24)’s eye was reportedly nibbled by a rat when he was admitted to the ICU, on Monday night. On Tuesday his relatives complained that the injury to his eye was caused due to rat bite. However, the hospital administration maintained that the injury was superficial and there was no damage to his eyesight.
Yallappa was admitted to the hospital on Sunday in critical condition and was on ventilator support. He was admitted to the hospital due to brain fever, liver disorder, and breathlessness. Soon after the news of the patient being bitten by a rat broke out, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar visited the hospital and ordered the inquiry into the incident.
The ward where Yallappa was admitted is on the ground floor. Dr. Vidya Thakur, Dean, Rajawadi Hospital, had said that” the injuries were superficial, still, the incident could have been avoided. There is no threat to the eye, but injuries are being treated at our hospital. Some people dump garbage on hospital premises despite being told not to do so. It could have attracted rodents there. We have taken some rodent repellent measures. We will take extra care to avoid such incidents”.
On Wednesday all-party corporators raised the issue in the meeting of the BMC’s standing committee and demanded action against the contractor responsible for the maintenance of the ICU. Standing Committee Chairman Yashwant Jadhav called for a detailed explanation about the incident from the BMC administration.
Health Committee Chairperson Rajul Patel told the “Transcontinental Times” that the patient was in critical condition from the very beginning and the incident of him being bitten by a rat near his eye, has nothing to do with his death. However an attempt will be made to give his family the compensation from the BMC, she added.
In the meanwhile, the police have initiated a probe into the incident. A case will be registered based on investigation, a police official said.
This is not the first time that such a bizarre incident has come to light involving a BMC-run hospital. A similar incident of rats nibbling on two patients was reported at Kandivali’s Shatabdi hospital earlier. Similarly in October 2017 a woman patient Pramila Nehrulkar admitted to Bhagwati Hospital at Borivali in north Mumbai was attacked by rats when she was asleep.
