Baby born with intestine outside stomach in Bihar

A baby girl was born at a nursing home here with her intestine protruding from the stomach, making it the second case of congenital anomaly in the state in less than two weeks when a child was born with his heart outside the chest.

The baby girl is now at the Patna Medical College Hospital and the hospital plans to either perform a corrective surgery in the PMCH or take her to AIIMS in New Delhi, where the boy with ectopia cordis (heart outside the chest) was successfully operated upon.

"The central abdominal defect has caused protrusion of small intestine outside her abdomen which is covered by membranes. Since the membrane is tough, there is no need for an urgent surgery," paediatric surgeon T P Gupta, attending on the baby, told.link

Junior doctors in Bihar end strike

After an assurance from the Bihar government of a hike in stipend, protesting junior doctors of the Patna Medical College and Hospital here Monday night withdrew their five-day long strike that has claimed the lives of 38 patients.

Speaking to newspersons after his meeting with Health Minister Nand Kishore Yadav, the Junior Doctors Association (JDA) president Rajiv Babu Prajapati said the association has withdrawn its agitation following an assurance from the government to address their demands as soon as possible.

The JDA has asked all the junior doctors to resume their duties.

The five-day-old strike by junior doctors in the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) here has claimed the lives of at least 38 patients.

The state government Monday served notices to the medicos and asked them to return to work or face action, an official said.

A day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed his anger at the doctors' strike that has paralysed health services in the PMCH, Health Secretary C.K. Mishra served notices on doctors asking them to report back on duty.

More than 400 junior doctors went on an indefinite strike, first demanding a hike in stipend and then payment of salary instead of stipend.

The strike has badly hit emergency, outdoor and surgery services of the hospital.link

Junior doctors' strike claims 6 lives in Bihar

Six patients admitted to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) here died amid a strike by junior doctors which entered its second day Friday crippling medical services.

Three patients died late Thursday while three others died Friday, an official said. More than 400 junior doctors went on an indefinite strike Thursday, demanding hike in stipends.

The strike has badly hit the emergency services and dozens of surgeries have been postponed. Meanwhile, the hospital authorities have sought the help of the health department to cope with the situation. More than 50 doctors have been requisitioned from nearby hospitals.

A leader of the junior doctors' association said their demand for hike in stipend has been pending for the last couple of years now.

'We are getting stipend of Rs.13,000 in the first year, Rs.14,000 in second year followed by Rs.15,000 in third year of post-graduation. We are demanding that this amount be increased to Rs.22,500 at par with some of the neighbouring states,' he said.

Hundreds of poor patients, who came for treatment from across the state, are victims of the ongoing strike.

'We are the main victims of the strike because there is no doctor to attend to patients,' said Kumtia Devi, who came from a village in Vaishali district three days ago with her husband. Devi's husband is admitted to the hospital.

Chandeshwar Yadav, a poor farmer whose son is a patient at PMCH, said: 'No doctor, no nurse to give injection to the patients... What more can I say, we are at the mercy of god.'

The state government has asked the hospital authorities to hold a meeting with the striking junior doctors and persuade them to end the strike.link

39 encephalitis deaths, high alert in Bihar

After the death of at least 39 children in Bihar in the past 15 days, a high alert was sounded in Bihar, health officials said here Monday.

Most of the deaths took place at Patna Medical College and Hospital in the last two weeks.

“Several more children are in various hospitals for treatment,” Sanjata Roy Choudhary, head of the paediatric department at the hospital, told.

All the dead were below 10 years and from poor families, she said, adding she also suspected that two or three children died of Japanese encephalitis.

According to hospital officials, most of the fatalities were from different villages in the flood prone districts of Muzaffarpur and Vaishali in northern Bihar.

Choudhary said that she had already informed the departments concerned of the spread of the disease in the region.

Encephalitis, transmitted by a mosquito bite, is a viral infection occurring throughout south, south east and east Asia.link

Man dies as doctor stealthily removes kidney, eyes during treatment

A dalit in Bihar died after doctors stealthily removed his kidney and eyes during his treatment at a local hospital here, police said today.

Police said the victim Sachen Ram who worked as a farm labour in Punjab was returning to his village by a train but got badly injured while alighting from the train at the Begusarai station on July 13.

He was immediately admitted to the local Buddha hospital in Panta for treatment. A week later, his body was found among the dead at the postmortem room of the Patna Medical College and Hospital, victim’s family alleged today.

The victim family has alleged that the doctors at the Buddha hospital allegedly removed patients’ kidney and eyes before getting him transferred to the PMCH when his condition deteriorated.

“The hospital administration told us to deposit Rs 26,000 for his treatment which we did instantly but later asked for more money. But when he returned with money we were told that the patient had been shifted to the PMCH. On reaching there we found my uncle body at the postmortem room”, victim’s cousin Kiran Ram told the police at the local Patrakarnagar police station where the case was lodged.

The police are investigating the case.link

Regional cancer centre to come up at IGIMS

Efforts are on to set up a state-of-the-art regional cancer centre at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) here, Bihar&aposs Minister for Health N K Yadav told the state assembly.

Replying to a short-notice question of Vinod Narain Jha (BJP) and subsequent supplementaries from RJD&aposs Shakeel Ahmed Khan, Ramchandra Purve and Ramdas Rai, Yadav said the central government had approved a proposal for setting up a regional cancer centre at the IGIMS, equipped with modern facilities.

He said the government was also making efforts to add bone marrow transplant facilities at the centre.

The minister said around one lakh people from the state were receiving medicare from the cancer units at the IGIMS, Patna Medical College and Hospital, and Mahavir Cancer Institute here, even as he admitted that patients were going to Delhi and Mumbai for treatment at advance stages of the disease.link

One killed, six injured in Bihar court blast

A man was killed and six others injured, one of them seriously, in a bomb blast inside an advocate's chamber in the district court premises here today.

Bhojpur police superintendent Sunil Kumar said the crude bomb was tied to the waist of the man and exploded when he entered the chamber and was about to take a seat.

The six -- four lawyers and two clients -- present in the chamber were injured in the blast, he said. The police captain said the condition of the advocate, one of the injured, is serious and has been rushed to Patna Medical College and Hospital for further treatment.

The security of the court premises has been beefed up in view of the blast, the SP said, adding the investigation is on. District Magistrate Safina A N visited the sadar hospital where the injured were admitted and instructed the authorities to provide prompt treatment to those injured in the blast.link