A 23-year-old pregnant woman from Tonk district's Niwai town died on Wednesday at Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital, allegedly after receiving a blood transfusion of the wrong group — marking the third such incident in a Rajasthan government-run hospital since early last year.
The victim, identified as Chaina, had been admitted to SMS Hospital on May 12 with severe tuberculosis, extremely low haemoglobin levels, and other pregnancy-related complications.
On May 19, hospital staff sent a request for a blood transfusion to the hospital’s blood bank, reportedly marking her blood group as A+. The next day, she received the transfusion.
However, confusion emerged when a subsequent sample sent to the blood bank revealed her actual blood group to be B+, sources said.
According to a transfusion reaction report reviewed by ToI, Chaina suffered haematuria, fever, chills, and tachycardia following the transfusion — symptoms consistent with a transfusion-related reaction.
Dr Swati Shriwastava, the attending doctor under whose care Chaina was admitted, rejected claims of a mismatched transfusion.
“I was on leave at the time. When I inquired, the doctors told me that when they started the transfusion, there was a reaction. The patient was already down with miliary TB. She had more complications after intrauterine fetal demise,” Shriwastava said.
Chaina’s family said they were not informed about any blood transfusion error.
“We had no knowledge about the wrong blood transfusion,” said Prem Prakash, her brother-in-law.
This is the third such case in a little over a year involving Rajasthan’s public health system.
In February 2024, a 23-year-old man died at SMS Hospital following an alleged mismatch in transfused blood. Prior to that, a 10-year-old boy reportedly died of complications linked to a suspected blood mismatch at JK Lon Hospital.
Authorities have yet to confirm if an investigation has been launched into Chaina’s death. The recurring nature of such errors in government facilities has once again raised serious concerns over patient safety and procedural oversight in blood transfusion protocols.
(With inputs from ToI)
The victim, identified as Chaina, had been admitted to SMS Hospital on May 12 with severe tuberculosis, extremely low haemoglobin levels, and other pregnancy-related complications.
On May 19, hospital staff sent a request for a blood transfusion to the hospital’s blood bank, reportedly marking her blood group as A+. The next day, she received the transfusion.
However, confusion emerged when a subsequent sample sent to the blood bank revealed her actual blood group to be B+, sources said.
According to a transfusion reaction report reviewed by ToI, Chaina suffered haematuria, fever, chills, and tachycardia following the transfusion — symptoms consistent with a transfusion-related reaction.
Dr Swati Shriwastava, the attending doctor under whose care Chaina was admitted, rejected claims of a mismatched transfusion.
“I was on leave at the time. When I inquired, the doctors told me that when they started the transfusion, there was a reaction. The patient was already down with miliary TB. She had more complications after intrauterine fetal demise,” Shriwastava said.
Chaina’s family said they were not informed about any blood transfusion error.
“We had no knowledge about the wrong blood transfusion,” said Prem Prakash, her brother-in-law.
This is the third such case in a little over a year involving Rajasthan’s public health system.
In February 2024, a 23-year-old man died at SMS Hospital following an alleged mismatch in transfused blood. Prior to that, a 10-year-old boy reportedly died of complications linked to a suspected blood mismatch at JK Lon Hospital.
Authorities have yet to confirm if an investigation has been launched into Chaina’s death. The recurring nature of such errors in government facilities has once again raised serious concerns over patient safety and procedural oversight in blood transfusion protocols.
(With inputs from ToI)
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