Woman dies after sonography-guided infertility treatment procedure in Bhiwandi

Bhiwandi: A 35-year-old woman undergoing infertility treatment died soon after undergoing a sonography-guided procedure at a private hospital in Bhiwandi, with her family alleging medical negligence.

The deceased, Firoza Ramzan Shaikh, was a resident of Ahilyanagar but was staying with relatives in the Nadi Naka area of Bhiwandi for the past two months while undergoing infertility treatment. She was married for four years.

Relatives told TOI that Firoza was looking forward to her younger sister’s wedding scheduled on June 6 and to celebrating Bakra Id with her family. She was taking treatment at a private hospital where the doctor referred her to another private facility for the sonography procedure.

Firoza, accompanied by her younger sister Sumaiya Khatik, visited the sonography centre on Wednesday afternoon. Before the procedure, the doctors asked them to purchase certain medicines and injections from a nearby medical store.

During infertility treatment, doctors use sonography-guided procedures to retrieve eggs or aspirate/drain ovarian cysts, which helps correct hormonal imbalance; women are given mild sedation or local anaesthesia to relieve any associated pain.

“Within minutes of administering the injection, my sister was taken in for the procedure. Soon after, her condition worsened. When I asked for an explanation, we were pushed outside and nobody gave us any information,” alleged Sumaiya.

Sumaiya alleged that Firoza became unconscious immediately after receiving the injection and may have died around 2 pm. “However, hospital authorities concealed her condition for several hours while assuring us that she was alive,” she added.

Several doctors were reportedly called in while Firoza was put on ventilator support. The family also claimed that the hospital pressurised them to sign certain documents, but they refused.

Firoza was declared dead around 3 am on Thursday, “nearly 12 hours after she was taken for the sonography procedure,” her relatives said.

Based on the family’s complaint, Shantinagar police registered an accidental death report. Senior police inspector Vinayak Gaikwad said the hospital doctors cited heart attack as the preliminary cause of death. However, the body has been sent to the govt-run IGM Hospital, Bhiwandi, for a post-mortem.

Police said that the civil surgeon’s office would assist in the investigation. “Further action will be taken based on the post-mortem report and the civil surgeon’s findings,” Gaikwad said.

The family also accused the hospital of trying to shield the female doctor who conducted the procedure. They claimed she left the hospital premises after the procedure and staff refused to disclose her identity. Several attempts to contact the hospital authorities failed.

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