Manjeri: A seven-year-old boy seeking medical care for nasal polyps was operated upon for hernia at Manjeri Medical College in Kerala's Malappuram district on May 21.
Following a complaint from the boy's father, the general surgeon at the medical college was suspended pending an inquiry. Health minister K K Shylaja asked the official concerned to suspend the surgeon after Manjeri police registered a case against him for medical negligence.
According to sources, the doctor seems to have confused the case with another boy with a similar name. Both were taken to the operation room at the same time.
Hospital sources said the similarity in names led to the serious error. The error came to light when the father visited the child and saw bandages on the abdomen. Upon inquiry, he was told that hernia was spotted and hence the boy was operated upon. When the polyps problem was pointed out, the boy was taken back to the operation theatre for the nose intervention even before he regained consciousness after the first surgery.
The boy with nasal polyps hails from Kerala Estate, Karuvarakkundu in Kerala's Malappuram district. Both the children are recuperating well.
Nasal polyps are non-cancerous growths on the lining of nasal passages or sinuses.
Manjeri CI Shyju N V told Onmanorama that a case was registered against the doctor who performed the surgery.
“We received a complaint from the father of the child on Wednesday and a case was registered against the surgeon. We were not sure of the person who performed the surgery, so his name was not included in the first information report. This is a case of medical negligence,” the CI said.
