BMC orders probe as Mumbai KEM Hospital reports recycled into ‘paper plates’

The issue was highlighted after some videos of the development went viral on social media

July 7, 2024

KEM Hospital accused of using patient reports as paper plate

The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has ordered a probe into a bizarre revelation of the KEM Hospital patients’ old medical reports getting reincarnated as ‘paper plates’ in the market, officials said here on Saturday.

BMC has intervened and formed a panel to probe the incident and sought an explanation from the hospital dean.

Besides the high-level probe by a Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Public Health), the BMC has also slapped a memo to one of its service providers and sought an explanation from the KEM authorities on the issue.

The issue was highlighted after some videos of the development went viral on social media.

While MNS spokesperson Sandeep Deshpande shared the video, the SS (UBT) leaders like Anil Choudhary, Kishori Pednekar, and Shraddha Jadhav rushed to the hospital to demand an explanation from the authorities of the civic-run premier medical institution.

The SS (UBT) leaders sought to know how the confidential medical reports of patients were ostensibly ‘sold’ away as waste and returned in a new avatar as ‘paper plates’, displaying the names, addresses, the medical department, and other details of those who were treated at KEM Hospital.

Dr Sangeeta Ravat, KEM hospital dean, clarified that the plates were not made from patients’ reports but from old folders of CT scans that were given to scrap dealers.

According to a BMC statement, patients typically receive their CT scan, MRI, and X-ray reports in paper folders. These old folders were subsequently given to scrap vendors. However, the concerned folders had not been shredded before being repurposed into paper plates.

The civic body indicated that the work assigned to the scrap vendor was not completed properly. The BMC has issued memos to those responsible for overseeing the process.

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