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FROM MY JOURNAL
Medical negligence
By N RAJASEKHARAN NAIR
Some lives are lost, some others ruined by negligence of doctors and
hospitals
LAST WEEK, the newspapers
reported three cases of medical negligence, each one different but
serious in its own way.
Theresa Martin, who had
undergone hysterectomy in Jeevan Hospital in Malad (East), complained
that a surgical mop had been left behind in her abdomen. She said,
“After the hysterectomy, I suffered discomfort. Whenever I went to Dr.
Relan, he would only give me antibiotics.” Having lost faith in her
doctor who performed the surgery, Theresa got herself admitted to
another hospital, Saibaba Nursing home, where a second surgery was
done to remove the mop. “Last Sunday, I felt unbearable pain and went
to Dr Ramesh who advised a C T Scan. But I had lost faith and showed
the results to another gynecologist”. She was told that a surgical mop
from her previous surgery was embedded in her abdomen and there was
pus and infection because of it.
The incident infuriated
Theresa’ relatives and friends and soon a mob including MNS workers
collected at the Jeevan Hospital. The mob created mayhem and blackened
the face of an ophthalmologist Dr Siddharth and gynecologist Sarina
Relan... Dr Ramesh Relan and his daughter-in-law Sarina were the two
doctors who had conducted the hysterectomy. Ramesh was away at the
time and the ophthalmologist who had nothing to do with the case
became a victim.
In the past there have been
several instances of assault on doctors both in the public and private
hospitals and the doctors had demanded strict action against those who
indulged in such violence. The assault on the doctors at Jeevan
Hospital triggered State-wide-protests among the medical fraternity
who has demanded that such assaults be made non-bailable.
In the past too, there have been many cases where some mop, forceps,
or other items used in the surgery were left in the body to be removed
later by another surgery. It is surprising that in spite of such cases
no fool-proof system to obviate the errors of this kind has not been
followed.
The AIIMS, one of the
foremost teaching hospitals in the country was accused of a similar
negligence. In August 2007, a 65 year old patient Gurcharan Kaur
alleged that the doctors left a piece of cloth in her abdomen after
operating on her for stones in the gall bladder. The patient returned
six days later complaining of severe pain. “They just gave us
medicines and told us to go home” said the patient’s son. The patient
was operated again at a local nursing home and a cloth piece was
removed from her abdomen.
Dr Atul Gawande, the
Indian-American Surgeon from Harvard has suggested as a solution, the
bar-coding of surgical instruments and tallying the supplies before
and after surgery with the aid of a computer. He says that the use of
bar coded surgical sponges approved by the U S Food and Drug
Administration is now catching on in American hospitals.
Another news item that
caught my attention was the sad tale of a 16 year old girl who lost
her life to gross medical negligence. Anita, a X standard student from
Dahisar had a slight fever and complained of body ache. Her mother
took her to the local Kamalaprasad Pal’s clinic. Anita’s father was
asleep at home at that time. According to the mother, Dr Pal gave
Anita four injections on both arms and each side of her hips. She was
then administered a glucose drip “Half way through the drip, she
suffered seizures and ripped out the needle from the back of her hand,
following which her nose started bleeding” Said DCP Ajit Patil with
whom a police complaint was lodged. When Anita’s condition worsened,
the doctor asked Nagina Chavan, Anita’s mother to rush her to Bhagwati
Hospital. At the hospital, the young girl was declared dead before
admission.
What a tragic end to a
perfectly healthy girl! A slight fever and body pain cannot even be
called a disease. The Dahisar police have arrested the doctor and have
also sent his degree certificates to the Indian Medical Association
for verification. He holds a BIASM degree from Kolkata University. I
have not heard of such a degree and no one would know what these
letters mean. Anita’s case should open the eyes of the State
government who should conduct checks on nursing homes and clinics and
weed out the bogus ones. Even if Pal was found to be a registered
medical practitioner allowed to practice allopathy, there is no doubt
that he has to be charged for criminal negligence.
Recently a Malayam newspaper
reported the death of Rohini (68) who was in coma for the last 37
years. At the age of 30 she went in for tubectomy after the birth of
her fourth child. The surgery for family planning was done on the
second day of delivery, at the Government Beach Hospital in Kozhikode
way back on September 11, 1971. Following the surgery, Rohini lost
consciousness for ever. Once in a while, she opened her eyes but never
uttered a word. After a long legal battle, her family received from
the Government an amount of Rs.3.8 lakhs as compensation, that too
after a High Court order. Rohini’s family had already been ruined by
the time it received the money in 2001.
We have heard of several
cases where family planning surgery has failed. In these cases, the
women conceived even after the operation. However, a case like
Rohini’s is a rare one.
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