Siliguri (West Bengal): In a shocking incident of alleged medical negligence a dog was seen chewing on a patient's severed hand at a Government-run hospital. The incident took place at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in West Bengal's Siliguri district, wherein according to the family members of the patient the dog ran away with the severed hand after stealing it from the ward.
The family members of the patient Sanjay Sarkar, a resident of the Durgadas Sarni area of the district, said that he was seriously injured when his motorcycle collided with a car on Sunday night, severing one of his hands from the elbow on the spot. The accident took place at the Phulbari junction near Siliguri.
Sarkar was rushed to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital by local residents and local police. After he was provided treatment at the emergency ward, the hospital staff put the severed hand in a bag and shifted it to the Orthopedic Surgery Department.
The doctors attending to Sarkar told his family members that there was a possibility of the severed hand being surgically rejoined. At around midnight the hospital staff started to look for the hand but were unable to find it.
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After frantically searching for several hours, the family members were shocked to see that a dog was munching on the severed hand on the roof of the ward. Despite several attempts, the severed hand could not be recovered from the dog.
Outraged family members of Sarkar then gheraoed Hospital Superintendent Sanjay Mallick on Monday morning and staged a protest demonstration. Mallick said "We will look into how the incident happened. A three-member inquiry committee has already been formed. However, the hand could no longer be attached."
Expressing outrage over the incident the patient's mother Namita Sarkar said, "I came to know at night that he (Sarkar) was injured in an accident. I came to the hospital and saw that his hand got severed. Later I heard that his hand was taken away by a dog."
