Kolkata: In a startling revelation, at least five bodies were sent from the morgue at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata to the ENT department for dissection without any permission from the deceased persons' families.
Though the health department has sought an explanation from the medical college and assured an inquiry, the incident is not only a violation of human rights, it has also shaken the sanctity and ethics of medical practice in the state.
"We have come to know about the whole thing and we are taking it very seriously. We have asked for an explanation from the principal. There will be a thorough inquiry into the whole thing," State Health Secretary Narayan Swarup Nigam told ETV Bharat over the phone.
A letter in possession of ETV Bharat shows that the ENT department had written to the Principal of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital requisitioning 6 bodies on January 5. These bodies, according to the letter, were needed for the purpose of an endoscopic sinus surgery workshop organised by the department on that day.
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Sources in the hospital said that Principal Sandip Ghosh had instructed the morgue to send five bodies for the workshop without getting any due permission from the kin of the deceased. It was instructed that the bodies should be sent back to the morgue after the workshop was over.
Though Principal Sandip Ghosh didn’t respond to the calls by ETV Bharat, police said that the bodies in question were brought to the morgue by the police on January 5 for autopsy. Asked about it a senior police officer said that they had no idea that the bodies were sent for dissection at the workshop. “The autopsy was done at 5 pm in the evening and then we took back the bodies and handed them over to the families,” the officer said.
