6-year-old loses teeth after surgery; family approaches CM alleging medical negligence

Malappuram: The family of a six-year-old girl from Kalikavu in Malappuram district approached the Chief Minister’s office seeking intervention in a case of alleged medical negligence.

The family alleged the girl lost a wisdom tooth alongside two other teeth while undergoing an adenoid removal surgery at MES Medical College Hospital near Perinthalmanna on June 8.

Uncle of Swanha Mehrin V, the six-year-old girl who underwent the surgery, told Onmanorama that the authorities did not address their complaint in earnest.

The girl was admitted to the hospital on June 6 for the surgery. She was undergoing treatment at the hospital for the last six months under the supervision of Dr Anwar Sadath, the ENT specialist who performed the surgery for removing adenoid and tonsillitis.

“When we saw the child after the surgery, three of her teeth in the front row were missing. We inquired about the same; the hospital told us the teeth abruptly fell off during the surgery. It was not a convincing answer; and they have not mentioned it even in the discharge summary. We spent two more days at the hospital thanks to the inaccuracies in the discharge summary; the girl was treated by the doctors in the dental wing at the time. What we received were arrogant replies from them when we raised our concerns; that is the reason we decided to move against the hospital legally,” Mohammed Junaid, uncle of the girl said.

They have filed a complaint with the police and the district collector in Malappuram. The family alleged that the authorities are delaying the investigation due to the political influence of the hospital management.

“We have approached the Chief Minister and Health Minister on Thursday to expedite the process. The child needs justice. She has lost three teeth from the front row; it can only be implanted with the artificial ones at the age of 18,” Junaid said.

Meanwhile, the district medical officer Dr R Renuka told Onmanorama that a team has been formed to investigate the matter. They will conduct a detailed inquiry and submit the report, she added.

However, the hospital authorities were unavailable to comment on the issue upon contacting multiple times.