Noida: Four months after a 30-year-old Delhi resident underwent surgery to remove fibroids at a private hospital in Sector 51, a 23cm catheter was allegedly found lodged in her abdomen wall.
A complaint submitted by Kiran Negi at Sector 49 police station in April this year accuses three doctors of Cloudnine hospital of ‘medical negligence' that left her in severe pain over the subsequent months after she was operated on in Feb 2023 to remove fibroids — a tumorous growth in the uterus wall.
An FIR was lodged on Nov 6 after a preliminary medical investigation by the health department.
The hospital, however, has called the allegations "unfounded", filed with an intention to seek compensation and an attempt to harm its reputation.
Kiran Negi, the complainant, claimed she consulted another doctor and underwent a second surgical procedure at a private hospital in Sector 19 in Oct 2023 to remove the catheter — a flexible tube used to deliver fluids into or withdraw fluids from the body.
A CT scan report, a test conducted just before the second surgery, stated the "curvilinear tubular structure", which was "likely iatrogenic" or induced unintentionally by a physician or surgeon, was lodged near the abdominal wall and was protruding towards the recto-uterus. TOI has a copy of the report.
In her complaint, Negi stated that after the first surgery in Feb 2023, "a drain bag" was attached to her abdomen, which was supposed to be removed after four days. "But the next day the bag came out while an on-duty staff was emptying it [the fluids collected in the bag], and the on-duty doctor said there was nothing to worry about. I was discharged on Feb 4, 2023," it stated.
When Negi visited the hospital after one week for a follow-up check-up, she claimed to have told the doctor about a sharp abdominal pain. "However, the doctor asked me to take painkillers and wait for some more months," the complaint said.
Negi's husband Gautam Singh told TOI that his wife complained of severe pain days after her surgery and the painkillers did not help at all. "We waited for four months before consulting a second doctor. Ultrasound and CT scan, done at a private diagnostic centre, showed that a 23cm (9.5 inches) foreign body was present in her abdominal wall," Singh said.
Singh said after the Oct 2023 surgery and post-surgery recovery, a complaint was submitted at Sector 49 police station in April 2024. "Cops told us that only after a medical investigation from the health department any action or official complaint can be lodged. This procedure took six more months," Singh added.
DCP (Noida) Rambadan Singh said an official FIR was lodged at Sector 49 PS on Wednesday under sections 269 (health negligence), 336 (endanger human life), and 337 (causing hurt to human life) of the Indian Penal Code (case lodged under IPC as the case dates before BNS came into effect on July 1, 2024) against three doctors. "Efforts were underway to understand the lengths of their involvement," he said.
While chief medical officer (CMO) Sunil Sharma refused to comment on the case, a spokesperson from Cloudnine Hospital said: "The case involves a patient who received treatment at our hospital two years ago and was discharged satisfactorily. The complaint that has surfaced now is a result of unfounded allegations seeking compensation, which is an unjust attempt to harm our reputation. We reject these baseless claims as both misleading and damaging." MSID:: 115114324 413 |