Golmaal in Bengal: Hospital prescribes antiseptic lotion to cure severe cough

An old man in Mahishadal, West Bengal, was having furious fits of coughing. The concerned family admitted him to the Basulia Rural Hospital in Midnapore. The hospital is some 150 km from Kolkata.

Blame it on the age as the octogenarian was in pretty bad shape and there was blood in his sputum.

The doctors conducted a few tests and soon the old man was released with cough syrup being part of his follow-up treatment.

Sudhir Samanta was allegedly prescribed an antiseptic lotion instead of a cough syrup (*cough cough*). And here comes the twist: the poor man drank a full bottle of it.

CLEARING ONE'S THROAT, NOT SO MUCH

Now for folks who can read, it might have been a different story but since neither the man nor his family knew how to read English, the octogenarian unknowingly consumed the entire bottle of the antiseptic lotion which was meant to be applied externally.

The goof up was detected only after the man went to a chemist shop. While ordering a second phial, the old man learnt that he was consuming an antiseptic lotion.

The blame was squarely put on the Block Medical Officer of Health (BMOH) Mohanchandra Ghorai of the rural hospital, since he was the one who wrote the prescription.

GOLMAAL IN BENGAL

It has been alleged that the patient was handed a bottle of Povidone-Iodine lotion from the hospital dispensary.

Nabakumar Samanta, the son of the affected patient, said that his father followed the directions of the doctor and consumed the contents of the bottle as per the suggested dosage.

Nobody had any idea about what Sudhir was consuming since the bottle of antiseptic lotion was prescribed by the hospital itself.

Sudhir's family immediately took the patient to the hospital. Since then, the BMOH has found himself in trouble and has even promised to bear all expenses for the treatment of Sudhir. However, he has not yet acknowledged his mistake.