Doctor blamed for homemaker's death

BANGALORE: A case of medical negligence has been filed against a gynaecologist of St John's Hospital here by V Damotharan after his 31-year-old homemaker-wife Rani died on Saturday due to complications after undergoing laparoscopy surgery.
In his complaint to Koramangala police, Damotharan, stated that Rani died due to alleged medical negligence of doctors.
But medical superintendent of St John's Hospital Dr George D'Souza denied any negligence. "We attended to the patient who developed complications. Her case was a serious one, as there was injury to her large intestine. We earnestly attended to all her medical requirements, but unfortunately she died due to complications during treatment. This isn't medical negligence as we did our best for her," Dr D'Souza told TOI.
The husband's statement said: "Rani had not conceived and was undergoing treatment for the past two-and-a-half years from gynaecologist D Annamma Thomas at St John's Hospital. On the surgeon's advice, she was admitted to the hospital on July 16. She underwent a laparoscopic procedure the next day and was discharged on July 18 after the doctor certified her fit."
The complaint added: "On July 19 evening, Rani developed pain and when they called the doctor, she was prescribed painkillers. As the pain didn't subside even after administering painkiller Meftal Spas, Dr Annamma Thomas was called. She asked Rani to get admitted in the emergency ward on July 20. "Doctors conducted x-ray and ultrasound scans in emergency ward and confirmed there was a perforation in the large intestine, which had caused infection to spread to the entire digestive system."
To prevent the infection from spreading, a surgery was performed and she was admitted to the intensive care unit. Though doctors attending on Rani said she was recovering, she was taken to the operation theatre on July 23 for an abdomen wash to contain the infection, the complainant said.
On July 27 evening, doctors said Rani was suffering from pneumonia and low blood pressure. The next day, doctors said she had to undergo dialysis. Doctors later said her right leg was infected and it had to be amputated. "We agreed to this. Rani was taken to the operation theatre around 2.30pm and was shifted back to the ICU around 4pm. By 4.30pm, doctors declared her dead," said the complainant. He blamed Dr Annamma Thomas's negligence during the laparoscopy for the agony.
Police said following the complaint, a postmortem was conducted. "The results are awaited after which we'll take appropriate steps," police said.