St George’s blood bank shut down by FDA

The FDA has issued an order to the hospital to shut its blood bank after MiD DAY exposed irregular records and a dubious appointment

St George's blood bank shut down by FDA

The FDA has issued an order to the hospital to shut its blood bank after MiD DAY exposed irregular records and a dubious appointment

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an order to the government-run St George Hospital to close its blood bank, having detected a number of irregularities in its operations.
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On February 28, MiD DAY carried a story 'Mystery appointment at St George Hospital raises eyebrows.' MiD DAY exposed that Dr A G Shinde, the blood bank in-charge, was not a full-time employee of the hospital.

Records had revealed that Dr Shinde was unlawfully holding posts at both Raigarh government Hospital and St George Hospital.

Social worker Sanjay Gurav had complained to several authorities, demanding that action be taken against Chandrakant Gaikwad, the medical superintendent who had illegally appointed Shinde.

When contacted by MiD DAY, he had said, "There is nothing illegal about Shinde's appointment. We are authorised to hire him."

On the basis of Gurav's complaint, two FDA officers P S Iyer and L D Pinto inspected the hospital and submitted a report based on their observations.u00a0

On March 29, P R Uttarwar, the joint commissioner of FDA, issued an order to the hospital that it stop collection, storage, processing and distribution of Whole Human Blood IP and Blood Components.

A copy of this order has been obtained by MiD DAY.

According to the order issued by Uttarwar, the two FDA officers have submitted a 35-page report on the blood bank.

They have reported that Shinde was given additional charge as medical officer in the blood bank on January 31, 2011. He was also holding the post of OPD RMO in the same hospital.

The officials, however, failed to find any record regarding his official appointment, or any evidence of his experience in handling blood banks.

The report also pointed out several anomalies in record keeping.
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It says that the component register has not been regularly signed by any registered medical officer since August 2, 2008, while the master register has not been signed between July 2, 2010 and March 14, 2011.

The blood donor register too lacks the signature of a medical officer. Moreover, the blood bank register has not been certified by the medical officer in-charge.
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These lacunae in record-keeping makes it amply clear that that a full-time medical officer was not appointed by the hospital.

"I am thankful to the FDA officials for their prompt action in response to my complaint," said Gurav.
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The Other Side

Uttarwar, confirming the report, said, "The department has issued an order to the hospital to exercise caution. The hospital is run by the government for the poor and needy people, and should follow regulations. During inspection we found a shortage of staff."

Dr T P Lahane, the dean of the hospital, said, "I am unaware of the FDA's notice asking that the blood bank be closed. But I have heard reports that there were a number of irregularities in its operations."