Kolkata, Jan 13 (IANS): Two separate public interest litigations (PILs) were filed at a division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday over the death of a pregnant woman at Medinipur Medical College and Hospital in West Midnapore district of West Bengal after allegedly being administered with expired Ringer’s Lactated (RL) saline.

The division bench of Calcutta High Court Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya have admitted both petitions.

The PILs are slated for their first hearing on January 16. One of the two PILs has been filed by a senior advocate of Calcutta High Court Phiroze Edulji.

As per his petition, the same organisation whose saline administration resulted in deaths in Karnataka following which the entity was blacklisted by that state government had supplied these in West Bengal resulting in a death last week.

Hence, Edulji added that there is a requirement to file public interest litigation in the matter.

Last week, five pregnant women were crucially admitted at Medinipur Medical College and Hospital after allegedly being administered expired saline. One of them Mamoni Ruidas (25) died on Friday only. The remaining four were under treatment at the same hospital. Three of them have been shifted to state-run S.S.K.M. Medical College and Hospital in South Kolkata on Sunday night following sharp deterioration in their medical conditions.

The incident raised serious concerns, especially as the expired RL saline allegedly came from Paschal Bang Pharmaceutical Limited, a company earlier banned by the Karnataka government and later by the West Bengal government.

The state health department has formed a 13-member inquiry committee to investigate how expired saline was administered to these patients.

The probe committee is slated to submit its report on the matter on Monday and the same day it will be placed on the table of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

This incident has revived concerns over similar cases in the state’s healthcare system. Notably, in a recent case of financial irregularities at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, its former principal, Sandip Ghosh, was accused of encouraging the use of expired and ineffective drugs on patients for personal financial gains.