A third First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee and several others over alleged medical negligence and irregularities linked to the Sebaashray health camp programme.
The Sebaashray initiative, launched in Banerjee's Diamond Harbour parliamentary constituency, was designed to provide advanced medical care through cluster-based health camps in rural and urban areas. However, it has recently come under scrutiny following allegations of medical negligence.
According to reports, the latest FIR was registered after a man alleged that his wife lost a leg following treatment for chronic knee pain at a Sebaashray health camp in Maheshtala, South 24 Parganas district.
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Prabir Biswas, husband of the complainant Malati Biswas, lodged a complaint at Rabindranagar Police Station on July 9, alleging that his wife lost her leg due to medical negligence during treatment at the health camp.
According to the complaint, Malati Biswas attended the camp on February 8 after being encouraged by a former local TMC councillor. Suffering from chronic knee pain caused by osteoarthritis, she was prescribed medication by a doctor who allegedly did not mention his full name or medical registration number on the prescription.
As her condition deteriorated, she later visited another Sebaashray model camp for further treatment.
The complaint further alleged that doctors at the second camp demanded a substantial payment for treatment. When she was unable to pay, she was referred to a government hospital.
Malati Biswas was initially taken to M.R. Bangur Hospital before being admitted to the state-run Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital on March 19. She underwent total knee replacement surgery on April 25.
According to the complaint, she later developed severe post-operative vascular complications in her right leg, resulting in an above-knee amputation on May 27.
A Rabindranagar Police Station official confirmed that an FIR had been registered against Abhishek Banerjee and several others, adding that an investigation is underway.
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Police said this is the third FIR filed against Banerjee in connection with alleged irregularities at Sebaashray health camps.
According to sources, West Bengal Health Minister Sharadwat Mukhopadhyay has intervened in the matter by speaking with the complainant and asking the family to visit Swasthya Bhawan, the state health department's headquarters in Salt Lake, on Monday for a detailed review.
The minister has also asked the family to bring all relevant medical records related to the treatment.
"The health minister has requested that Malati and her family visit Swasthya Bhawan with relevant documents after realising the seriousness of the issue. He spoke to her over the phone and gathered details about her treatment," Abhijit Das, a BJP leader from Diamond Harbour who assisted the family in filing the complaint, was quoted as saying.
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