Body swap at KEM hospital leaves bereaved families furious

Two bodies which had been interchanged after a nurse attached incorrect tags to them, were handed over to the right claimants, and the upset families mollified. The hospital has initiated an inquiry into the episode to fix responsibility

Mumbai: Thanks to timely intervention by the Bhoiwada police and senior doctors from KEM Hospital, a monumental blunder that occurred on Friday was set right. Two bodies which had been interchanged after a nurse attached incorrect tags to them, were handed over to the right claimants, and the upset families mollified. The hospital has initiated an inquiry into the episode to fix responsibility.

Mumbai:::::10 December 2011:::::News:::::KEM Hospital. (Prachi Pinglay Story):::::HT Photo by Kalpak Pathak.

Officers attached to the Bhoiwada police told HT that they got a call on Friday night from KEM Hospital. “We were told that 30 to 40 people had gathered outside Ward No 20 and appeared to be very angry,” said police inspector Dayanand Sawant. “Sub-inspector Deepak Thorat left immediately for the hospital along with two constables. Subsequently he informed me that the family members of a Currey Road resident, Ramsajeevan Ramkumar Jaiswal, were furious, as the body of the 72-year-old was not found in the hospital mortuary and the staff was asking them to take somebody else’s body.”

Sawant said that after the family met senior doctors and the police reached the spot, the hospital authorities found that two deaths had taken place in Ward No 20 on Friday. “The second person who died was a 57-year-old resident of Nallasopara called Chandrakant Gunaji Jadhav,” said Sawant. “The hospital authorities then realised that Jadhav’s family members had been given Jaiswal’s body instead.”

When Jadhav’s family members were contacted by the police, they were in no mood to listen, as they were already traumatised by Jadhav’s sudden death. “We then contacted Vilas Supe, the senior inspector of Nalasopara police station,” said Sawant. “He sent a police team to the spot. The team was informed about identification marks on Jaiswal’s body – a surgical scar on his stomach and a big mark on his back.”

The identification marks on the second body at KEM convinced Jadhav’s family members, who then handed over Jaiswal’s body to the cops. It was taken to KEM Hospital where Jaiswal’s family claimed it. Jadhav’s body, which was lying in the hospital, was then handed over to his family members.

Gayatri Jaiswal, the daughter-in-law of the deceased 72-year-old, thanked police officials and the doctors at KEM Hospital for ensuring that they got the body of their family member and were able to give him “proper and respectful last rites”. Vipin Jadhav, son of the deceased Chandrakant, said the swapping of the bodies had traumatised the family. “We were already distressed by the sudden death of my father at just 57 years of age,” he said. “He was brought to the hospital, as he had asthma and needed to be admitted due to an emergency. He died there.”

The hospital authorities have taken the matter very seriously. Dr Sanjeev Kumar, additional municipal commissioner, BMC said, “An inquiry has been initiated and the necessary action will be taken.”