Indian women who underwent sterilization surgeries receive treatment at the District Hospital in Bilaspur, in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014, after at least a dozen died and many others fell ill following similar surgery. AP
NEW DELHI, India—Indian officials say tainted drugs apparently killed 13 women who underwent sterilization procedures in central India after autopsies ruled out any surgery faults.
Amar Agarwal, Chhattisgarh state’s health minister, says a preliminary finding suggests that a poisonous chemical compound, zinc phosphate, got mixed with the drugs at the manufacturing firm whose owner has been arrested. Government laboratories are expected to give a final report by Monday.
Dozens of women who underwent surgeries in the government-run sterilization campaign became ill, and at least 13 died this past week.
- K. Mandal, the state’s chief medical officer, said Saturday that post-mortem reports did not suggest any surgery faults in sterilization procedures.
The doctor who performed the surgeries remains in custody. He has been accused of performing too many procedures in one day.