By Special Correspondent
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee President Jitu Patwari on Tuesday launched a blistering attack on the State government over what he described as a series of “criminally negligent” incidents at Indore’s Maharaja Yeshwantrao (MY) Hospital, alleging that the institution had been reduced from a life-saving facility to a “den of death”.
Patwari recalled that earlier negligence at the same hospital had resulted in the death of 24 children due to contaminated cough syrup, yet “neither the government nor the Health Department learnt any lesson”. He said that the State’s largest government hospital now symbolised collapse in healthcare governance.
Citing a recent incident, Patwari said a national-level sportsperson admitted to the medicine ward was administered an antibiotic fluid that had expired three months earlier. When the patient’s husband questioned the expiry date, the nurse on duty allegedly replied, “Expired medicines work for a few days.” Patwari remarked that the response not only reflected “inhuman insensitivity” but also exposed a deeply corroded system.
Local media investigations, he noted, revealed that several patients were given expired saline. It was only after the matter surfaced on television and social media platforms that hospital staff scrambled to remove expired saline packets and medicines from the storeroom. “This was not corrective action but merely an attempt to shield the responsible officials,” he said.
Patwari added that MY Hospital had a history of shocking lapses, including incidents of rats biting infants and patients, malfunctioning equipment, unhygienic wards, shortage of beds and chronic staff absenteeism. Yet, he argued, no meaningful reforms had been initiated.
Directly questioning Health Minister Rajendra Shukla, Patwari said, “These are not isolated mistakes but a systemic failure of the BJP government. Administering expired medicines is nothing short of attempted murder.” He demanded answers on who monitors expiry dates at a super-speciality hospital and why store in-charges, drug inspectors and senior officials remained silent. He also sought a public report on action taken after the death of 24 children.
Issuing a warning, Patwari said the Congress would launch a statewide public movement if time-bound and transparent action was not taken, including criminal cases against the guilty. “Our fight is not against one hospital,” he said, “but against a mindset that has surrendered public health to negligence and corruption.”
