Cases of medical negligence in Tamil Nadu not making it to govt records, finds RTI

CHENNAI: After teen footballer R Priya died due to medical negligence in a government hospital in the city in November 2022, the State health department announced that all the surgeries would be audited. However, despite cases of alleged negligence being reported in the State, the official count stands at zero.

As per RTI data sourced by DT Next, no medical negligence cases have been reported from the audits conducted from November 2022 to October 2023 in about 20 hospitals. Since the audits’ commencement, the government hospitals’ unanimous reply remains that there were no medical negligence cases, and the regulations did not apply to them. The audit reports, as per the RTI response, revealed there was no need for further intervention.

Though there are cases of alleged negligence reported in the State, as per RTI data, the total remains nil since they do not make it to the final count. A 26-year-old woman delivered a baby boy at the Government RSRM Lying-in Hospital in Royapuram on Jan. 6, 2024, through a caesarean surgery. She suffered excessive blood loss after she underwent the removal of the uterus and cervix upon the doctor’s advice and developed complications after the surgery. She was shifted to the Government Stanley Hospital as she had breathing difficulty and seizures. She passed away due to excessive blood loss. The family members protested at the hospital, alleging medical negligence against the doctors.

In August last year, another painful incident of the death of a 27-year-old pregnant woman and her unborn child at a government hospital in Pulianthope led to protests by the family members. The woman had died during childbirth due to the absence of a doctor. She was later moved to the government maternity hospital in Egmore but was declared dead on arrival.

Many non-surgical negligence cases at other government facilities, such as primary health centres, have also been reported. Such cases have even led to deaths, often in the case of newborns.

In a clear case of medical negligence in Dharmapuri, a woman lost her newborn child two days after delivery at the Palayamputhur PHC. While the mother stayed for post-natal care and the newborn was administered the newborn a vaccine for jaundice, he developed a fever and died the next day. The mother alleged that the staff was not on duty as the child developed complications, and a further investigation found that the nurse was unavailable on duty.

Such incidents raise public concerns, but the audits do not note these incidents. Another such incident of the death of a 48-year-old woman admitted to Thiruvarur government hospital in Tamil Nadu in November last year for lung-related issues also shocked the public. Due to a power outage at the hospital, the ventilator stopped working, and the patient passed away.

In another instance in July last year, the relatives of a three-year-old child alleged that the doctors at Kanyakumari Government Medical College and Hospital at Asaripallam in Nagercoil had given the wrong treatment to the child for Rabies due to a suspected dog bite. The child was brought with symptoms of fever and was put on a ventilator. The family members were told that he could not be saved. However, the child was later taken to a private hospital, where he was treated and discharged from a private hospital in Kerala in August.

Non-surgical negligence cases also require an audit so that lessons can be learned from unfortunate incidents that lead to loss of life or impact the care and treatment at government hospitals.

Responding to the replies received for the RTI query on the audit to identify medical negligence cases, the Director of Medical Education, Dr J Sangumani, said that the respective hospital authorities are doing the audit. The senior officials at the Directorate of Medical Education later review the reports. “The department checks the audit reports, and in case of any identified case of medical negligence, the health department takes the due action,” he said.