2 women die in city hospitals, kin allege medical negligence

Nirmala (47) of Banu Nagar in Ambattur, an ME, M Tech graduate who was working as assistant professor at an engineering college, was suffering from chronic cough for the last three months, said her husband N Komahan Arivudainambi, who is working at a private firm in Gujarat. Komahan told DT Next that Nirmala was admitted at Vijaya Health Centre in Vadapalani on August 1 as suggested by their family physician.

“After confirming that Nirmala did not have tuberculosis, doctors said CT scan showed lymphnodes-like lumps in her lungs and advised her to undergo biopsy for better diagnosis,” said Komahan.

On doctors’ assurance that it was only a minor procedure, Komahan paid Rs 1 lakh for the procedure which took place on August 4. “Two hours after she was taken into the operation theatre, doctors came out and said that Nirmala suffered profuse loss of blood as a vein got cut, and asked me sign in a document for further procedure,” said Komahan.

Nirmala never opened her eyes since then. On Wednesday, she slipped into coma and was declared dead on Thursday morning.

“The doctors handled the case with utmost carelessness. They have just one unit of blood as backup. If they had more units of blood, Nirmala could have been saved. Even after she died, doctors maintained that it was part of such medical procedures,” Komahan alleged. He said Nirmala was perfectly fine except the cough. The couple has two children - Rachael Priyadarshini (19), a college student, and Joshua Samuel (15).

Based on his complaint, K K Nagar police have registered a case. “We will act only based on the report from the doctors who performed the surgery. The report will be sent to the medical council, who will have to decide if the woman died of medical negligence. Based on that, we will alter the case,” said the investigation officer.

When contacted, Vijaya Health Centre officials claimed that they referred the patient to the Government Medical College, Omandurar Government Estate, after she developed complications.

In the second incident, Rohini Satish, a 32-year-old woman, died after a doctor at a private hospital in Pallikaranai administered an injection as part of a procedure to remove a lump in her throat. After the woman fainted, the hospital authorities reportedly advised her family members to take her to another private hospital in Pallikaranai, where the doctors declared her dead on arrival.

Based on Satish’s complaint, Pallikaranai police registered a case and sent the woman’s body to Chromepet government hospital for post-mortem examination. Police said that Rohini worked at a shop in Nanmangalam near Velachery.