1 July 2023 07:35 am Views - 4226
A 23-year-old girl was reported dead after the use of an antibiotic at the Colombo North Teaching Hospital in Ragama, an official said.
The patient was admitted to the hospital on June 27, for a suspected infection.
During her treatment, the patient had been administered an oral drug, but she did not respond, according to doctors.
Her doctors had administered the same drug in the form of a vaccine, to which the young woman later developed an allergic reaction, according to the hospital's chief.
Hospital Director Dr. S. Liyanage Ranaweera told Daily Mirror that the patient was immediately transferred to the Intensive Care Unit after she developed complications. “She developed a severe allergic reaction (anaphylactic shock). She was treated at the ICU for nearly eight hours before she succumbed,” he said.
Dr. Ranaweera said there is a possibility of a few such isolated incidents where patients develop complications. Dr. Ranaweera stressed that this was a rare incident.
Following the death, the entire batch of the particular drug has been withdrawn by the Health Ministry, he said.
Similar instances in the recent past where patients died after being administered drugs have stirred controversy, with the quality of medicines used in Sri Lanka being questioned by several medical professionals. (Sheain Fernandopulle)