Janakpur, October 8
The director of Janakpur Provincial Hospital has been transferred to the Madhesh Ministry of Health and Population following the death of a snakebite patient who was reportedly referred elsewhere after the hospital could not provide ICU care.
Dr Jamun Prasad Singh, a 10th-level senior consultant paediatrician and director of the hospital under the Madhesh Institute of Health Sciences, has been transferred to the ministry for work duties.
The Chief Minister and Council of Ministers’ Office transferred Singh to the ministry and assigned Dr Indrajit Kumar Rajak, a 10th-level medical superintendent currently working at the ministry, to take charge of the hospital.
The action follows the death of 25-year-old Mahesh Yadav of Mujeliya, Janakpurdham Sub-Metropolitan City-14, who reached the provincial hospital after being bitten by a snake on the night of September 29.
Yadav had ridden his scooter to the hospital himself after the snakebite. He was treated with 10 doses of anti-snake venom, but his condition later became critical and he required intensive care.
Hospital authorities reportedly referred him elsewhere after saying that no ICU bed was available.
Yadav was subsequently taken to two other hospitals, but treatment could not be provided there either. He was eventually taken to the Snakebite Treatment Centre in Bardibas, where doctors declared him dead.
The incident has drawn widespread criticism of Janakpur Provincial Hospital over its handling of the case and lack of ICU capacity.
