Killer injection: Woman dies of ‘bad medicine’ following stillbirth

Doctor says the women died of low blood pressure.

BAHAWALPUR:

A woman died on Thursday following a stillbirth due to the negligence of lady health visitors (LHVs) at Qayampur’s rural health centre, her husband said on Friday.

Zulfiqar Matru, a resident of Basti Rodanwala, said he had taken his wife Iman Bibi to the centre on Thursday for delivery. He said Bibi died after a stillbirth after LHVs Sumaira Hameed and Gulnaz and midwife Shameem gave her a wrong injection.

Her family later staged a protest demonstration, placing her body on the road. They dispersed when police assured them that action would be taken against the health workers.

Aslam Khan Abbasi, a local landlord, and Musa Khan, the woman’s father, also addressed a press conference accusing Hameed of killing the two.

Local journalists said Hameed worked in the evening shift. They said she had been called to attend Bibi as Dr Sadiq, the doctor in the morning shift, was not available.

“Gulnaz called me on Thursday for the delivery. Bibi’s condition deteriorated and I referred her to Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur,” Hameed told the media. She said Bibi had died of low blood pressure.

Qayampur police have registered a case against Hameed under Section 322 (punishment for causing a death) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2014.