An eight-month-old baby admitted to a district hospital here died minutes after a rickshaw puller allegedly gave him an injection. Apparently at the understaffed government hospital in Ballia, India, untrained sweepers and rickshaw-pullers are often asked to fill in for tasks meant only for trained medical professionals. According to a complaint filed by the child’s family, the rickshaw-puller was allegedly inebriated. The child was suffering from septicemia. The surgeon treating him had recommended a dose of a life-saving drug “Primacord” and asked the pharmacist to administer it. Instead, the pharmacist allegedly passed on the job to Raju, a rickshaw puller who does odd jobs at the hospital, like ferrying bodies. [Source] [BJS]
