A Guwahati doctor died of cardiac arrest after he allegedly consumed Hydroxychloroquine which is used to prevent and treat acute attacks of malaria, on Sunday.
Dr Utpaljyoti Barman, who was an anaesthetist at Pratiksha Hospital in Guwahati, died of cardiac arrest after he consumed Hydroxychloroquine, which is being used by some as precautionary measures for COVID-19. Barman was rushed to GNRC hospital at around 3 pm on March 29 and after half an hour he was declared dead. “The reason of death as per death certificate is cardiac arrest. Apart from that, we can’t give further details,” said an official at GNRC Hospitals. He refused to comment whether the cardiac arrest was due to consumption of Hydroxychloroquine.
Pratiksha Hospital’s medical superintendent Nirmal Kumar Hazarika said that 44-year-old Barman had consumed Hydroxychloroquine. It is also believed that a few others have taken the medicine as precautionary measures for COVID-19.
UPDATE: ‘Doctor’s death may not be linked with consumption of Hydroxychloroquine’
The National Task force for COVID-19 constituted by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recommends the use of Hydroxychloroquine for prophylaxis of SARS-CoV-2 infection for high risk population. The advisory provides for placing the following high risk population under chemoprophylaxis with Hydroxychloroquine, are asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 and asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases.
The protocol recommended by the National Task force has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India for restricted use in emergency situations.
