Dr Sirajul Islam Medical College Hospital has been fined Tk30 lakh for a number of irregularities after it was raided by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the health ministry.
On Tuesday, a mobile court led by RAB Executive Magistrate Sarwoer Alam, imposed the fine and also alerted the hospital authorities to rectify their mistakes within seven days, otherwise further legal action would be taken against them.
“We found several expired reagents. Also, a single petri dish was being used for three patients, where it should have been used for one patient only,” Sarwoer said.
“Huge quantities of expired surgical materials were also seized from the hospital’s four operation theatres,” he said.
All the microbiology reports that have been made here are fake, the RAB magistrate said.
Umme Salma Tanzia, joint secretary (hospital wing) of the Health Ministry, talking to Dhaka Tribune, said: “We have found evidence of several irregularities.”
“The pathology lab here is supposed to wait for 48 to 72 hours for blood culture results. Instead, they waited for only 10 hours but wrote 72 hours in the reports.”
“We have specific guidelines for treating Covid-19 patients in hospitals. People with the disease should be kept isolated. But this hospital has its Covid-19 dedicated ICUs close to its pathology lab!” added the joint secretary.”
“The establishment also lacks proper hygiene,” she said.
Officials of the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) were also present during the raid.
On July 6, a RAB mobile court led by Sarwoer unearthed a huge number of fake Covid-19 test report reports at Regent Hospital’s Uttara branch and then sealed off both its Uttara and Mirpur branch, as well as its head office.
Two weeks later, the RAB unearthed another unauthorized Covid-19 testing scam involving Shahabuddin Medical College Hospital in Gulshan and arrested three officials.