2 pregnant women react to injections at BMC hospital

MUMBAI: In yet another instance of adverse drug reaction in a civic-run hospital, two pregnant women complained of giddiness and chills after being administered an iron injection. This was the fourth major incident of an adverse side-effect being reported from a public hospital in greater Mumbai in the last one month.

Last Saturday, two pregnant women in their 20s, were administered injection Dextran for their low haemoglobin levels at the BMC-run Matoshree Ramabai Ambedkar Maternity Home in Chembur. Within minutes, both of them complained of uneasiness, giddiness and chills. "They were soon admitted and kept under observation till their discomfort subsided," said a doctor from the hospital. Though the women were lucky to not have suffered any serious allergic reaction, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a stop-sale notification against the iron injection.

The doctor said both patients had taken the same supplement on previous occasions, but never suffered this kind of a reaction. "They are supposed to take a course of 10 injections and both of them had already completed half of that. We usually give it to patients who do not show great response with oral iron supplement," said the doctor. "They ideally need to be administered at a hospital, clinic or under a doctor's supervision since they are capable of causing serious side-effects," said a senior gynaecologist from KEM Hospital in Parel. Less than 1% of patients are known to suffer from adverse effects of Dextran iron injection.

The FDA, which has already drawn samples of the drug to look for contamination, said storage of the drugs could be at fault. "We found out that the hospital did not have proper storage facilities like a refrigerator or an air-conditioned room," said drug inspector Pramod Yasatwar. He added the injection Dextran, manufactured by Gujarat-based Bharat Parenterals Limited, comes as a liquid and not in powdered form like the medicines involved in the other three drug reaction incidents. "We have collected samples and prohibited the use of rest of the stock. We have also issued a stop-sale notice till the drug is tested for safety," he said.

BMC's executive health officer Dr Padmaja Keskar said the drug samples have already been sent for testing. "We have immediately stopped using the drug from that batch. All other civic hospitals have been informed about it," she said adding both the patients are doing fine.

The BMC will also look into the drug storage conditions and whether the injections were administered properly.

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