Kozhikode: In a gross case of medical negligence, a woman bore the brunt of a botched-up Cesarean section at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital five years ago. A forceps was found in her stomach recently as she underwent the umpteenth medical procedure for severe pain since that surgery. Now, a voice clip suggests the doctors owning up for the faux pas, though authorities initially made a bid to evade culpability.
In their conversation with the relatives of the woman, Harshina, the doctors say that the Superintendent of the Medical College had confirmed that the forceps recovered from the woman’s body belonged to MCH.
Harshina, a resident of Pantheerankavu in Kozhikode district, developed acute pain around the stomach and severe fatigue following a C-section at the Institute of Maternal and Child Health (IMCH) on November 30, 2017. There was no cure even as she underwent treatment at several hospitals.
Recently, Harshina consulted doctors at a private hospital complaining of a urinary infection and in a CT scan carried out there, the forceps was detected. She again sought treatment at IMCH, where she was subjected to surgery and an artery forceps, 12 cm long and 6 cm wide, was removed. (Artery forceps is used to control bleeding from blood vessels by clamping the artery.)
During the surgery, it was noticed that a swelling had formed in her urinary bladder after the forceps had remained stuck there for a long time. Doctors removed this swelling also.
After the incident was reported, the Health Minister of Kerala Veena George ordered an inquiry. Soon, authorities at Kozhikode Medical College claimed that forceps found in Harshina did not belong to their institution. The MCH authorities also said that Harshina had undergone surgical procedures at other hospitals also.
Harshina is the wife of Ashraf, a resident of Malayilkulangara at Pantheerankavu.
