Doctor injects whiskey into patient!

• Claims it was prescribed in a TN book
• DMHO sets up probe panel
• Unheard of, says an IMC member

Warangal: The strange incident of a doctor of Wardhannapet allegedly injecting whiskey into a patient on June 1 came to light late, causing a sensation here.

The doctor is Vangala Ravinder Reddy of Mamata Hospital, and the victim of his crooked treatment is M Sripal Reddy, a farmer of Dammannapet village, in Wardhannapet mandal.

Sripal Reddy was said to have mistakenly consumed pesticide-mixed water. He was admitted to the hospital unconscious. The doctor, after starting treatment, told the patient’s kin to get a bottle of whiskey of a certain brand.

They bought a full whiskey bottle and were shocked to see Ravinder Reddy injecting its contents to the patient through a saline bottle. When questioned, he endorsed the action, claiming that such treatment was mentioned in some medical books of Tamil Nadu, said Sumalatha, the patient’s wife.

After a week’s treatment, Reddy’s condition deteriorated. His two kidneys were said to have been affected severely. He was shifted to a multi-specialty hospital in Hanamkonda.

Sumalatha and Reddy’s father Satyanarayana Reddy submitted a memorandum to Collector G Kishan seeking justice. They complained that the doctor after initially promising to meet the treatment expenses had gone back.

Meanwhile, District Medical and Health Officer Dr. P Sambasiva Rao said a committee would be constituted to probe the case. The committee report would be presented to the collector for action.

Dr. Ravinder Reddy declined to speak to the media when contacted on Thursday. The Indian Medical Council’s ethical committee chairman Dr. M Seshu Madhav said ‘we never heard of such treatment. It is not the prescribed format’.

‘If the patient’s family members approach the IMA we would probe and refer it to the council for action’, he added.