The family of a 54-year-old woman who died on Tuesday after undergoing an angiogram a month ago at a private hospital at Thattarambalam, near Mavelikara, has lodged a police complaint alleging medical negligence. According to Adarsh Ram of Chingoli, his mother Bindu P.J., was admitted to VSM Hospital, Thattarambalam, due to dizziness on June 3 night.
He said the hospital recommended bypass surgery and during the angiogram the catheter broke and got stuck to the her heart. She was taken to a hospital at Parumala where an open-heart procedure was done the same day. He said doctors at the Parumala hospital told him that there was no need to perform an angiogram on her as the block could have been treated by medicines. “She was discharged on June 9. We visited the Parumala hospital twice on June 17 and 26 for a checkup. On June 30, she collapsed. She died before she could be taken to a nearby hospital,” Adarsh said.
He said his mother was healthy before undergoing the angiogram at VSM Hospital. “She had undergone open-heart surgery due to the medical negligence at the hospital,” he added.
Police version
Anilkumar S.L., Circle Inspector, Kareelakulangara, said a case for unnatural death had been registered based on the complaint filed by Adarsh. “As per the post-mortem report, the injury caused by the broken catheter was healed. As per a report submitted by a panel of doctors, the cause of her death was a fresh heart attack and was not connected to her medical history. A probe is on to check whether there was medical negligence,” Mr. Anilkumar said.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Human Rights Commission has directed the district police chief to probe the incident by a police officer not below the rank of Dy.SP.
VSM Hospital authorities said that the incident had happened a month ago and the patient recovered from it. “The cause of her sudden death is unknown,” said an official.
