Health Ministry investigators, probing the blood scandal at the National Blood Centre (NBC), fanned out across the country this week following shocking reports that expired stocks had been used in other hospitals too.
The move came soon after the NBC Director Dr. R.M. Bindusara and three others were interdicted in the scandal over the use of expired apheresis kits that has rocked the health sector. Questions were also being raised as to whether all those allegedly involved have been brought to book.
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| Dr. R. M. Bindusara |
“This is an interim measure based on the findings of the interim report submitted by the Investigation and Flying Squad Unit,” a top Health Ministry official said, referring to the interdictions, assuring that the final report is expected in two weeks.
The others interdicted were Dr. M.I.L.A. Nazeer, a doctor attached to the Donor Section and two store-keepers. Earlier Dr. Bindusara was transferred to the Family Health Bureau to “facilitate” investigations at the NBC at Narahenpita while Dr. Nazeer was moved to the Angoda Mental Hospital.
“The investigation is not just at the NBC but covers other blood banks under the National Blood Transfusion Service. The probe needs to check out all expired stocks of apheresis kits and tally those figures with the stocks ordered through the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation, to ascertain whether expired kits were used and if so how many were used,” the Ministry official said.
The probe team visited many outstation hospital-based blood banks including Anuradhapura, Kandy, Wathupitiwela and Ampara and also regional centres, The Sunday Times learns. The National Blood Transfusion Service, run by the NBC, has 68 hospital-based blood banks and five regional centres.
While two other reports from independent investigations by the Auditor-General’s Department and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption are awaited, The Sunday Times understands that now more staff at the NBC have shown willingness to come forward to make statements about the issue.
Sources interested in setting right the mess at the NBC questioned whether all those allegedly involved had been uncovered. Were only four people at the NBC aware about the alleged use of expired kits or had there been others, asked a source, pointing out that if such kits were used on donors the entire Donor Section must come under scrutiny. “Otherwise, the probes will only be a white-wash,” the source said adding that a thorough inquiry is essential to regain the confidence of the donors.
People are now reluctant to come in for platelet extraction and the numbers have dropped, it is learnt.
Urging investigators to go into other issues such as refurbishing of the state-of-the-art NBC at the time it was set up in November 2006, another source, whose views were echoed by many in the health sector, said that each and every deal carried out by the NBC needs to be checked for possible corruption.
The scandal at the NBC was exposed by The Sunday Times, along with important photographs, in its comprehensive report on August 3 headlined ‘Whose hands have blood on them?’ which referred to serious allegations against the Centre over the use of expired apheresis kits on donors and also critically-ill patients. In this same report The Sunday Times brought up the issue of some stocks with a 10-month expiry being allegedly approved by the NBC.
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