Wrong medicines administered, writes Dr Sudhakar Rao

Expressing serious concern over his confinement in Vizag government mental hospital, Dr Sudhakar Rao on Wednesday has written a letter to the superintendent of the hospital requesting that he be shifted to another hospital.

In the letter, Dr Sudhakar Rao said wrong medicines were being administered leading to serious side-effects. TV channels showed the latest visuals of Dr Sudhakar Rao in the government mental hospital. The effects of the medicines were clearly visible on his lips, as per the visuals.

In the letter, Dr Sudhakar also listed the medicines that were being administered including Calmpose and Haloperidol. Haloperidol is an antipsychotic medicine that is used to treat schizophrenia. Haloperidol is also used to control motor and speech tics in people with Tourette’s syndrome. Calmpose is used in the treatment of short-term anxiety. It can also be used to treat acute alcohol withdrawal, to relieve muscle spasm and as adjunctive therapy for seizures. Side effects of this medicine include fatigue, confusion, tremor, double vision, insomnia, dry mouth, and headache. It may cause dizziness and sleepiness.

The doctor said it was due to the side-effects of the medicines that were being administered in the government mental hospital that his lips were swollen and turned pinkish. Further, Dr Sudhakar Rao pointed out that he was straight away admitted in the government mental hospital without even conducting breath analyzer test and other medical examinations to detect the level of alcohol in blood and urine. It may be noted that Dr Sudhakar Rao was arrested for drunk driving, he was dragged on the streets, his hands tied to a rope and a police constable was seen beating him with a lathi. This is a grave human rights violation.

As per the law, drivers are initially tested for alcohol consumption with breath analyzers. In addition, blood and urine samples are taken to further corroborate the breath analyser tests. Dr Sudhakar Rao said no medical examinations were conducted to determine whether he was drunk or not.

Dr Sudhakar Rao has been confined in the government mental hospital since the last two weeks without conducting any tests to determine if he was mentally unsound. On Wednesday, Dr Sudhakar Rao’s relatives including his mother Kaveri Rao met the doctor at the mental hospital. Kaveri Rao was aghast at the conditions in the hospital. He was confined in a room which was most unhygienic.

Kindly save my son, his life is in grave danger: Sudhakar Rao’s mother Kaveri

“Kindly save my son. His health has deteriorated since he was admitted to the mental hospital. He has lost weight. The doctors at the mental hospital are administering wrong medicines, medicines that are used to treat insane patients. The government is making serious attempts to browbeat my son by weakening him emotionally and physically,” this is the anguish of Dr Sudhakar Rao’s 90-year-old mother Kaveri Rao.

Addressing the media on Wednesday after meeting his son at the government mental hospital in Vizag, Kaveri Rao feared that there was a threat to his life and he should be immediately shifted to another hospital. Further, Kaveri Rao asked the state government to explain how his son, a doctor with several years of experience, has turned insane just after Dr Sudhakar Rao raised his voice against shortage of medical equipment in government hospitals. “This is political vendetta. My son performed surgery in the morning, in the evening he met Ayanna Patrudu. Soon after meeting Ayyanna Patrudu, my son was suspended,” Kaveri Rao pointed out. “My son is confined in a room which was most unhygienic,” she said.

Kaveri Rao said if her son was not shifted immediately from the government mental hospital, feared that his son could be killed. Further, Kaveri Rao said Dr Ram Reddy, a doctor who is attending to Dr Sudhakar Rao at the government mental hospital, was not giving proper replies when asked about the medicines that were being administered to her son. She said the medicines were being secretly administered with the strips of the tablets removed. “They are doing this so that the names of the tablets won’t be known. But since my son is a doctor himself knows the medicines that are being administered,” a visibly upset Kaveri Rao said.

She said attempts were being made to dilute the case by offering the job at the Narsipatnam government hospital back to her son. “We do not need the job. This is of least importance to us. The dignity of my son should be restored. More importantly, his life should be saved first by shifting him to another hospital. He was dragged on the streets like a dog and beaten. All the people who are involved in the entire incident should be severely punished. They should be sent to jail,” she said. Further, she noted that the Jagan government is planning to move the Supreme Court challenging the High Court’s directive ordering CBI probe into the entire incident.

Kaveri Rao said she will submit the letter written by her son before the High Court to seek justice. Expressing serious concern over his confinement in Vizag government mental hospital, Dr Sudhakar Rao on Wednesday has written a letter to the superintendent of the hospital requesting that he be shifted to another hospital.

Earlier, addressing Mahanadu via Zoom App on Wednesday, TDP president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the YSRCP government treated the doctor with vengeance for criticising it over not supplying masks to the doctors. He said the way senior doctor was dragged on to streets and beaten by the police which was a grim pointer to rights violations in Andhra Pradesh. “Dr Sudhakar Rao was suspended for raising voice against the shortage of masks and other medical equipment like PPEs in government hospitals. He was detained by the police under the pretext that he caused nuisance. He was sent to Government Hospital for Mental Health. Is this how the government treats a doctor who was the frontline warrior in the fight against Covid,” Naidu questioned. Earlier, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has lodged a protest with the Andhra Pradesh government over the police highhandedness against Dr Sudhakar.