The district medical board has handed over its proposals on the police inquiry report related to Adivaram native K.K. Harshina’s complaint that a surgical instrument was left behind in her abdomen after a C-Section surgery performed at the Government Medical College Hospital in 2017.
District Medical Officer K.K. Rajaram, who chaired the board meeting held on Tuesday, told The Hindu that they had been handed over to the investigating official. “I cannot reveal the details as the inquiry is still on,” he added. The medical board, which is constituted to look into cases involving medical negligence, is reported to have sought details of the doctors and nurses on duty when the surgery took place.
Though the body was expected to hold a meeting on August 1, it was put off because the authorities could not get on board a radiologist, who has to inspect the report on the MRI scan on Ms. Harshina. Thereafter, Ms. Harshina and the functionaries of an action panel, who have been on an indefinite satyagraha outside the medical college hospital since May 22, staged a sit-in outside the DMO’s office. Subsequently, an assurance was given to her that the report would submitted by August 8.
The police inquiry conducted by a team led by K. Sudarshan, Assistant Commissioner of Police attached to the Medical College Police Station, had reportedly found fault with the doctors on duty.
Ms. Harshina had to live with the instrument, an artery forceps, in her abdomen, for around five years. It was removed through another surgery at the same hospital in 2022.
According to sources, Ms. Harshina had undergone C-Section surgeries at the Government Taluk Hospital, Thamarassery, on November 23, 2012, and March 15, 2016. The alleged incident happened during the third surgery on November 30, 2017. Though she was discharged from the hospital in December, Ms. Harshina had complained of pain and bleeding. She had sought treatment at various hospitals subsequently. However, the metal object was detected during the CT scan at another private hospital in September 2022.
According to sources, the police is reported to have highlighted Ms. Harshina’s claim that she had undergone an MRI scan at a private hospital in Kollam before her third delivery. Nothing unusual was observed during the procedure. As per the police inquiry, this proves that the artery forceps might have been left behind during the surgery at the medical college hospital.
