Indrani Mukerjea was never prescribed drugs she took, reveals doctor

Indranis urine was found to contain 6468 ngml of Benzodiazepine which is 32 times over the cutoff levelThe drug that Indrani Mukerjea overdosed on had not been prescribed to her in Byculla jail While it is true that Indrani was prescribed an antidepressant Amitriptyline in prison she overdosed on an entirely different class of drug mdash Benzodiazepine a sedative and antianxiety drug This was confirmed by Dr Wiqar Shaikh who treated her overdose at JJ hospital and has been tending to her medical needs in prison since August 2015Speaking exclusively to midday Dr Wiqar Shaikh Professor of Medicine and Head of Medical Unit V at Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Group of hospitals said It has been emphasised that Indrani had consumed an antidepressant as stated in some sections of the media this is incorrect Indrani consumed Benzodiazepine which is not from the family of antidepressant medicines like Amitryptline prescribed to her by in Byculla jail a visiting psychiatrist from JJ hospital since October 2015 This means that a nonprescribed drug was ingested by herSince her discharge Indrani has appeared for court hearing via video conferencingDr Shaikh added The antidote for Benzodiazepine is a drug called Flumazenil We did not reach the stage of giving her Flumazenil as she was responding well to the initial line of treatment on the night of April 6 when she was admitted to the Critical Care Unit CCU of JJ hospital We gave her forced alkaline diuresis and three days of stomach wash gastric lavageView gallery Indrani Mukerjea Drug Overdose Latest twists in the Sheena Bora murder caseWithin 24 hours Indrani responded well to the treatment and regained her senses Our diagnosis of drug overdose and treatment for the same resulted in her getting up from the bed and walking out of the CCU on her own feet This itself summarises that our line of treatment is vindicatedDr Wiqar Shaikhmidday had yesterday reported that as per tests done at Hinduja hospital Indranis urine contained 6468 ngml of Benzodiazepine which is 32 times over the toxic cutoff level 200 ngml In addition her urine also had traces of other narcotics and psychotropic drugs such as cocaine and opiates We were not surprised by the Hinduja report although the level for Benzodiazepine in her urine was alarmingly high with traces of other narcotics which were below the detectable levels No other line of treatment was given to Indrani till we diagnosed for aspiration pneumonia said Dr ShaikhWhen asked why JJ had sent urine samples to Hinduja Hospital apart from the State Forensic Science Labortaory FSL Dr Shaikh clarified Hinduja is a nationally accredited laboratory and we wanted to confirm our diagnosis It is a routine practice to get specialised tests done at accredited stateoftheart laboratories to confirm the diagnosisWhy not blood samplesThis paper had also reported that the State FSLs findings were in complete contrast to Hindujas report as the state scientists found no trace of any drug in Indranis urineThe FSL scientists told midday that they would have had greater chances of finding traces of Benzodiazepine if the treating doctors had sent blood samples as well Excretion of any drug from urine is timeoriented and the concentration of drug in blood remains for a longer time than in urine the scientist said However Dr Shaikh clarified Benzodiazepine remains in the blood for only 24 hours and in the salvia for 60 hours But it remains in the urine for 96 hours and therefore the chances of detecting the drug was much higher in urine as compared to blood This is corroborated even in medical books across the worldInterestingly JJ hospital never got the urine toxic screen report from the FSL But scientists from the state lab insist that they have both the gastric lavage and the urine reports to the Nagpada police to hand over to JJFSL is curiousDr Shaikh had seen this exact scenario play out in 2015 as well when Indrani had overdosed on Benzodiazepine for the first time in prison On October 2 2015 I was summoned to Byculla prison as Indrani was found to be unconscious Benzodiazepine overdose was confirmed by the urine report from Hinduja laboratory At the time the reported level was 2088 ngml which is 10 times over the cutoff This time it was 32 times more said Shaikh an honorary physician to Byculla jail At that time too the FSLs tests were negative for drugsThis time a team of scientists from FSLs clinical toxicology division intend to visit the Hinduja laboratory to understand the methodology used for screening Indranis urine sample We are surprised that for the second time the reports from FSL have come negative If such a high level of Benzodiazepine was found in a private hospital laboratory we should have at least found traces of the same said one of the officials