Mumbai: KEM hospital staff goofs up with bodies

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A mistake in tagging a body and not carrying out proper identification process led to a body swap at KEM Hospital on Friday. The incident came to light when one of the relatives realised that the body was that of someone else's. With assistance of the police, the bodies were sent to the respective families.

Currey Road resident Ram Sajan Jaiswal, 75, was admitted to Kem Hospital on Thursday night after complaining of breathing issues. He died on Friday morning. Another patient, Chandrakant Gunaji Jadhav, 57, a resident of Nalasopara, also passed away the same morning.

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Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the staffers said, "Both were admitted to the same ward. After they died, as per protocol, their body was tagged by the nurse and sent to the mortuary. But due to a mix-up, Jadhav's family was handed over Jaiswal's body. When Jaiswal's family came to claim the body, they identified that it was not their relative. After this, we informed the Bhoiwada police station and the latter informed Nalasopara police about the exchange. The body was brought back on the same day and at around 10 pm the bodies were handed over to the respective families."

Another source said that the nurse had tagged the bodies incorrectly. "But it is also the responsibility of the mortuary attendant to make sure the family identifies the body properly before taking it. The grieving family didn't seem to have seen the body. It was not intentional, but it is the collective responsibility of everyone." In 2020, a similar incident occurred in Sion Hospital. Additional Municipal Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar said that an inquiry has been initiated. "Action will be taken against those responsible."