Mmm... ants!

[giza]

From Reuters:

KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - A woman receiving treatment for diabetes at a state-run hospital in eastern India lost one of her eyes after ants nibbled away at it, officials said on Tuesday.

The patient recovering from a post-surgery infection shrieked for help as the ants attacked her on Sunday night, but nurses told her it was normal to feel pain from the infection.

On Monday, the patient's family saw a gaping hole with swarming ants in it when they lifted the bandage on her left eye.

Authorities of the Sambhunath Hospital in Kolkata said they were probing the incident.

"It's not uncommon for ants to attack diabetic patients. We have set up a committee to investigate the unfortunate incident," hospital superintendent A. Adhikary said.

Scampering rats and stray cats and dogs sharing bed space with patients are not uncommon sights at India's overcrowded state-run hospitals that are used by millions of poor and middle-class people.

I'm still at a loss as to how the nursing staff could have failed to notice the ants. They would have had to have left a trail while going under her bandage or coming out from under it, right?

Comments

[duncandahusky.livejournal.com]

OK, an entry as cringe-inducing as that deserves this link. Enjoy!

(Come to think of it, I think that article is illustrated in one of those pics...)

[zorinlynx.livejournal.com]

What amazes me is that any place that calls itself a "hospital" would have such recklessly bad pest problems.

I mean, a rat here or there is one thing.. but a sufficiently large ant problem that they end up eating the eye of a patient? That's simply unacceptable. I hope this story getting out pushes some people to fix this problem...

-Z

[entropicana.livejournal.com]

And people wonder why folks who were 'doctors' in their home country are forced to be taxi drivers here...

Seriously...