Deb Mal, a ten-year old boy, who was admitted to Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital in Birbhum with acute abdominal pain, died, allegedly after being administered vials of Anti Snake Venom Serum (ASVS), said his family members. The incident has created chaos at Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital. A student of class IV from Gosainpur village under Nalhati Police Station area, Deb Mal had been suffering from severe abdominal pain since the past few days.

He had first been taken to the nearby Lohapur Primary Hospital, from where he was referred to Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital.

Mr Nagar Mal, his father alleged that though they had told the doctors that his son was suffering from acute abdominal pain and was admitted at the RMCH at around 3.30 p.m, the attending doctors did not listen to them and instead maintained that he had been bitten by a poisonous snake and repeatedly administered him vials of ASVS.

“My son died after the injections were administered,” Mr Nagar Mal has alleged in his letter to the deputy superintendent of the Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital (docket number 7072/ dated 22.8.2019). Mr Mal has also demanded a high-level impartial investigation of his son’s death and punitive action against the guilty.

The authorities of the Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital have assured Mr Mal that his complaint will be probed.

The district chief medical officer of heath was not available for his comments. Meanwhile, Dr Dayal Bandhu Majumdar, state level resource person for snake bites told The Statesman that in 90 per cent of cases, victims bitten by the common krait (Bungarus caeruleus) comes to district hospitals with symptoms of severe abdominal pain during this monsoon season.

“A patient can survive two to three days after a common krait bite. A seven-year-oldgirl, Indira Biswas, was bitten by a common krait and admitted at Kalna Hospital in Burdwan. Later, she was referred to Chinsurah Hospital, where after 70 hours of the snake bite, doctors had detected that she has been bitten by a common krait. Although in very critical state, she responded to the treatment and was fully cured. The bite marks of the common krait snake cannot be easily detected as the fangs are so small,” Dr Majumdar added.

He further said that in the boy’s case, there may be two possibilities ~ either the patient had some other disease or maybe the anti-snake venom did not work in his body.

“A patient cannot die of being administered ASVS even if he had not been bitten by a snake,” Dr Majumdar added.