LAHORE: A citizen has alleged that a private laboratory misdiagnosed his sister’s blood group and as a result, the wrong blood transfusion was given by a private hospital resulting in renal failure.
According to a report in BBC Urdu, Lahore resident Samar Hussain said that his sister Kiran Bukhari’s health deteriorated and she was taken to a private hospital for treatment. He said that after the initial test, the doctors diagnosed anemia and recommended immediate transfusion of AB positive blood.
Samar said that since his blood type was also AB positive, he agreed to donate blood to his sister. According to him, his sister’s condition worsened and she suffered renal failure after which her kidneys began to malfunction.
He said his sister received treatment for a few days but after showing no signs of improvement, she was taken to another private hospital where her blood samples were taken and the patient’s blood was B positive. The victim’s brother said doctors at the hospital said his sister’s condition had worsened due to the wrong blood group.
According to the report, Samar Hussain said he complained to the hospital’s owner Dr Zafar Sheikh who refused to accept responsibility for the incident. He alleged that the hospital’s management and the private laboratory gave his sister’s wrong blood group in the report.
He said the hospital management was of the view that the patient was transfused the same blood group as in the report. He said that he shifted her sister to Karachi where her blood samples were taken again and were again found to be B-positive.
He said he changed his home address and contact number and took his sister’s samples from the same private laboratory again for testing. This time around the report from the same laboratory said her group was B positive. Earlier, the same laboratory had reported to the private hospital that the patient’s blood group was AB positive.
According to the report, the private laboratory has declined to comment saying they saying they cannot give information on a patient’s illness without permission. When asked about two contradictory reports of the same patient’s blood group, Dr Ayesha, who present at the laboratory, said they would issue a statement if they receive a notice from Punjab Health Commission.
Dr Zafar Sheikh, in-charge of the private hospital, could not be reached. However, his secretary said that the patient Kiran Bukhari was given the blood of the same group. He said that blood tests were done twice from the laboratory and both times the blood group of the patient was AB positive.
The patient’s brother Samar Hussain has applied to the Punjab Healthcare Commission for action against those responsible. He said that the concerned authorities have received the request but no disciplinary action has been taken so far.
When the Punjab Healthcare Commission was contacted, Deputy Director Public Relations Amir Waqas Chaudhry said that his department had received the application in the first week of January. He said that a record of the patient’s illness has been obtained and the commission is investigating the matter.
Samar Hussain said that he had also applied to the Citizen Portal regarding the incident but the application was dealt with a one-sided decision against him.
