Meerut, December 21: A major medical negligence scare was narrowly averted at Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial (LLRM) Medical College in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut after a 30-year-old ward boy allegedly attempted to refill a nebuliser’s oxygen chamber with spirit instead of water for a four-year-old child. Alert hospital staff noticed the mistake in time, preventing the spirit from reaching the child and averting a potentially fatal incident.

The accused ward boy, identified as Avinash Singh, was allegedly inebriated while on duty and was terminated with immediate effect, hospital authorities confirmed. Singh was handling the nebuliser equipment when the incident occurred. Medical Negligence in Odisha: 5 Die at Govt Hospital After Being Administered ‘Wrong Injection’, Probe Ordered.

LLRM Medical College principal Dr R C Gupta told The Times of India on Saturday that Singh had a history of reporting to duty in a drunken state. “He was removed immediately after the matter came to my notice. We have instructed all ward in-charges and heads of departments to take prompt and strict action against such staff,” Gupta said.

Another ward boy, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed that Singh had earlier been removed twice by ward in-charges for negligent behaviour, but continued to return to duty as the matter allegedly did not reach senior authorities. The source also said that Singh got into a verbal altercation with the child’s parents following the incident, prompting senior staff members to intervene and escort him away to prevent further escalation. No police complaint was filed, as the child’s parents chose not to lodge a formal complaint.

The incident comes close on the heels of another case of misconduct involving outsourced staff at the same medical college earlier this week. In that incident, two female ward attendants and a ward boy were terminated after CCTV footage showed them assaulting a deaf and mute woman in the hospital’s ‘lawaris’ (unclaimed) ward. The footage allegedly showed the staff inserting a stick into the mouth of the mentally challenged woman following a misunderstanding. ‘No One Stopped’: Heart Attack Victim Dies on Road After 2 Bengaluru Hospitals Refuse Care; Heartbreaking Video Shows Wife Begging Passersby for Help.

Reiterating the hospital’s stance, Dr Gupta said the administration follows a zero-tolerance policy towards negligence or nuisance on campus and that anyone found involved in such acts would be removed immediately.

TruLY Score by LatestLY
Rating:3

TruLY Score 3 – Believable; Needs Further Research | On a Trust Scale of 0-5 this article has scored 3 on LatestLY, this article appears believable but may need additional verification. It is based on reporting from news websites or verified journalists (Times of India), but lacks supporting official confirmation. Readers are advised to treat the information as credible but continue to follow up for updates or confirmations

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 21, 2025 03:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).