A 19-year-old addict at Jhabal village, 25 km from here, died on Tuesday, two days after he allegedly injected some drug into a vein in his testicles.
The family members of the deceased, Bharat Singh, said initially, they took him to a few local physicians after he complained of severe pain in his legs, which were swollen. His mother Paramjit Kaur said she had earlier lost her elder son to drugs.
Manoj Kumar, SHO, Jhabal, claimed that Bharat did not die due to drugs. He claimed that the youth was unwell for the last around three months and family had ignored his treatment.
SMO Karamveer Singh of Community Health Centre denied having any information about the death of a patient due to such complication. He said no such patient was brought to the centre.
Meanwhile, medical practitioners say in case of prolonged use of intravenous drugs, the veins often get collapsed and the user has to find a fresh vein. It is not uncommon for long-time users to inject drugs in veins near their genitals when most other veins get blocked.
Dr JPS Bhatia of Hermitage Rehabilitation says: “I have often seen patients who have blocked all veins in their body. For medical tests, we have to take blood samples from veins of the neck since addicts cannot use this part on their own. They inject drugs in veins near testicles which are more prominent.”