Woman’s life hangs in balance because of ‘bad blood’

Patient Musarrat's life put at risk because of wrongly administered blood.

MIANWALI: District hospital doctors in Mianwali administered the wrong blood group to a patient on Monday.

The woman’s life is presently in danger and she has been shifted to the Sheikh Zayed Hospital female ward in Lahore.

According to medical officials, bed no.2 patient Musarrat Bibi is in critical condition as both of her kidneys have failed and an infection has spread throughout her body. Musarrat’s hands and feet have reportedly turned blue.

Musarrat’s family has said that they blame the doctors who administered the blood in Mianwali. Her mother said “My daughter is currently on the verge of dying and all because the doctors gave her the wrong blood. She was not critically ill when we took her to the hospital she was just pregnant.”

The family said that they would protest in Mianwali against the doctor’s negligence. Musarrat had initially been admitted to the hospital for the delivery of her (now 10-day-old) son Afzaal.

On October 7, Mianwali Anwar Medical complex doctor Rahila Tariq administered Musarrat with B-positive blood instead of O-positive during the birth of her child. When her condition worsened the doctor refused to treat her further and discharged her. Dr Tariq has refused to comment on the situation but a nurse at the hospital said that the moment Musarrat’s condition started worsening she panicked. “She immediately said we should discharge her and it made no sense because she was only getting sicker,” the nurse said.  Another doctor at the hospital said that even in normal cases, asides from pregnancy, the administering of the incorrect blood type can cause a strong reaction in the body.

“The woman’s body was already weak after child birth and the reaction of the wrong blood was much stronger,” said Dr Tahir from Sheikh Zahid Hospital in Lahore. Another doctor treating Musarrat, Dr Javed Ikram said “Her kidneys have failed completely and several other reactions are taking place simultaneously.

There is clotting and we are not sure if her condition will improve despite the medicines,” he said.

Afzaal, the newborn brother of four girls, has not yet been brought to his mother. Musarrat’s husband has not been able to celebrate his son’s birth as he was busy organising her treatment in Lahore. “We don’t have that much money and I needed to bring her to Lahore for treatment. The doctors back home just gave up on her,” he said.

Musarrat’s mother said that the woman’s husband had sold half an acre of their land to pay for her treatment and to shift her to Lahore. “The past ten days have been agony, as we have just been waiting to hear if she is getting better and all they tell us is that she is getting worse,” her mother said.

Meanwhile in Mianwali, the chief minister’s task force for health chairman Dr Asad Ashraf said that after the executive district officer (EDO) health’s department had issued a medical report about the incident, the authorities will consider whether or not to pursue a medical negligence case against the doctor involved.

According to hospital officials, Musarrat’s condition has gotten considerably worse over the past 16 hours.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 19^th, 2010.