Chatra district administration cracks down on quacks and unlicensed clinics after three deaths in a week due to medical negligence

Chatra: The district administration launched a crackdown on quacks and unlicensed clinics in the district after three deaths due to alleged medical negligence were reported last week, officials said.

FIRs were registered against four quacks, and two unlicensed nursing homes were sealed for flouting norms under the Clinical Establishment Act. The action was initiated after deputy commissioner Kirti Shree ordered an inquiry into the deaths of a child and two women, who died of alleged unauthorised medical procedures between Aug 30 and Sep 2. On September 2, Ranju Devi (23) of Nawadih in Hunterganj block died at Jeevan Rekha Clinic after being operated on without proper tests.

Based on a complaint from her husband, Hunterganj police registered case against ‘quacks’ Vikesh Kumar Yadav, Ramdheer Kumar, and Sunil Kumar. The district health department subsequently sealed the clinic. The second case involved five-year-old Rishi Kumar, a resident of Nawadih under Vishisht Nagar Jori police station, who died after his condition deteriorated following three injections administered by one ‘quack’ Pradeep Vishwakarma.

He was taken to Magadh Medical College in Gaya where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival. On August 30, a case emerged at Vashisht Nagar police station area of Hunterganj block, where Panwa Devi, a 48-year-old woman, died within five minutes of allegedly being injected a wrong medicine. Following these incidents, a probe revealed a nursing home operating inside a hotel. During a raid on September 2, a team led by subdivisional officer Sadar Jahur Alam discovered an illegal nursing home with several patients admitted.

The operators fled, but the facility was sealed, and an FIR was filed against Pankaj Jaiswal and Rohit Jaiswal at Sadar police station on Monday. Alam said, "The crackdown is in public interest. Those running illegal clinics or nursing homes must shut them down voluntarily or face strict action."