Post-surgery breathing difficulties and other complications caused by a lapse in her treatment forced Sumayya to quit her job. Meanwhile, those responsible for her condition continue their duties unchecked. “Is this justice?” she asks. A guidewire was left inside her body after a surgery at the Thiruvananthapuram Government General Hospital.

“I was working in a private laboratory. After the surgery, I tried going back to work for a few days. But soon, the difficulty in walking and breathing forced me to resign,” she recalls. She underwent surgery on March 22, 2023. Nearly two years later, on March 2, 2025, an X-ray revealed that a guidewire had been left inside her body.

“My husband works in a workshop and we live in a rented house, paying ₹10,000 every month. Medicines alone cost ₹6,000, not to mention the expenses of our son’s education. Does this government even understand the pain my family is going through?” Sumayya asks.

She then recounts how the ordeal began. “Dr Rajiv Kumar told us that all my health issues would end if the thyroid gland were removed. Later, he admitted there was a lapse in treatment. But what action has the Health Department taken since then? Dr Rajiv Kumar has not even returned the X-ray that showed the guidewire stuck inside my body. It was an X-ray I paid for with my own money.”

Did you have to pay the doctor?
“When I was diagnosed with a thyroid problem, I sought treatment at the General Hospital. The doctors said surgery was necessary. It was Dr Rajiv Kumar who was to perform it. Dr Usha Rani of the ENT department asked us to consult him directly and that’s how I ended up at his consulting room in Nedumangad. We handed over money to him on several occasions, though I don’t remember exactly how much.”

A press release by the Director of Health Services mentions that you are undergoing treatment for cancer. Is that true?
“The portion removed during surgery at the General Hospital was sent to the laboratory, which gave an initial indication of cancer. But that illness was soon cured after I underwent treatment at RCC. Today, I have no cancer.”

When did you realise the guidewire was stuck inside your body?
“It happened during my treatment at RCC. They recommended iodine therapy, for which I had to take an X-ray at a private laboratory. The technicians there asked me whether I had heart disease or if I had undergone a stent procedure. They said the X-ray showed something unusual inside my body. I told them the only surgery I ever had was on my thyroid gland. They repeated the X-ray and that’s when I came to know that a guidewire had been stuck inside me for two and a half years.”

Did you meet Dr. Rajiv after discovering the guidewire in the X-ray?
“My husband Seydali and I went to meet him. After speaking with the other doctors who were part of the surgery, Dr. Rajiv, who led the operation, tried to wash his hands of the responsibility. He told us nothing could be done there and directed us to approach Sree Chitra Medical Centre. He reimbursed us via Google Pay for the money we spent at Sree Chitra. But after that, he stopped attending our calls.”

Did you know that the Director of Health Services had constituted an expert committee to probe the incident?

“No, nobody informed us. When Sree Chitra Centre told us that the guidewire could not be removed, I lodged a complaint with the District Medical Officer. Even then, I had no idea that an expert committee was investigating the matter. What is the point of holding an inquiry if they don’t even care to understand the suffering I am going through?”