Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 806 Fri. September 01, 2006  
   
Front Page


Unauthorised blood bank sealed off


A mobile court yesterday sealed off an unauthorised private blood bank in the capital and found around 50 bags of blood collected from professional donors.

Blood in some of the bags even turned blue as the bags containing the blood were preserved in a general-purpose refrigerator that does not have any means of controlling and monitoring the required temperature.

The bags did not have any date of collection on them and the blood was not properly tested either.

If used, this blood could be fatal for users, said the experts accompanying the mobile court.

"They did not conduct any cross-match of the blood but put fake test results on the bags. They did not even preserve it properly," said Sarder M Keramat Ali, the magistrate leading the mobile court.

"Generally, the blood has to be preserved between two to eight degrees Celsius, but they were keeping the blood in a regular refrigerator," said Keramat. "The reagent they were using to identify the blood group was expired as well".

Before the members of the mobile court reached the New Medical Lab on Hosni Dalan Road, Babu, the owner of the lab, his brother Alamgir, also a word boy of Dhaka Medical College Hospital and manager Azizul Haq locked up the lab and fled the scene.

The mobile court sealed the medical lab after seizing the blood bags. It also issued warrants against the criminals involved in the illegal business.

The mobile court also found some clues of illegal abortion activities in the lab.

New Medical Lab has been operating without any license or permission from authorities concerned.

Picture
A mobile court seizes blood bags from an unauthorised private blood bank on Hosni Dalan Road in the capital yesterday. PHOTO: STAR