Pune: Parents Raise Concerns of Expired JE Vaccine Given to One-Year-Old in Koregaon Park
Koregaon Park, 18th September 2026: A Pune family has flagged a serious patient-safety complaint after alleging that their one-year-old son was administered a Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccine that had already expired, at Dr B. S. Ratta’s clinic in Koregaon Park on 17th September 2026.
The parents say they visited the clinic for their child’s scheduled vaccination. On the doctor’s recommendation, the JE vaccine was administered. They claim they later discovered that the vial used carried an expiry date of July 2026, nearly two months before the administration.
“Administering an expired vaccine to a one-year-old child is an extremely serious patient-safety matter,” the family said. “We are demanding immediate accountability and will be approaching the appropriate medical and regulatory authorities.” They added: “No parent should ever have to question whether the vaccine being injected into their child is expired.”
Following the complaint, Dr B. S. Ratta apologised and acknowledged the oversight, according to a written response shared by the family. “Please accept our formal and sincerest apologies regarding the vaccine today. We take full responsibility for this oversight,” the doctor stated. The response added that the immediate priority was the patient’s health and safety, and noted that expired vaccines generally lose potency rather than cause adverse health issues.
The incident has reignited concerns around vaccine storage, stock rotation and expiry checks in private clinics, especially for paediatric immunisation. While the doctor’s note emphasises potency loss over toxicity, parents and patient-safety advocates argue that any use of expired vaccines undermines trust in the system and warrants a formal review.
The family says it will approach the relevant medical and regulatory bodies seeking an investigation into how an expired vaccine was administered and what systemic checks failed. For now, the case stands as a stark reminder: in vaccination, expiry dates are not fine print, they are the first line of patient safety.
