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Kerala doctors may be booked in 2017 medical negligence case
Police are likely to charge doctors and nurses involved in the medical negligence during woman’s surgery in 2017 at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital in Kerala
KOCHI: Police are likely to charge the doctors and nurses involved in the woman’s surgery during which a surgical instrument was left behind in her stomach at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital (MCH) in Kerala in a case of medical negligence, said an officer on Thursday.
“Our findings are clear that medical negligence took place at the Kozhikode MCH and we are continuing the probe in a quick manner. The decision on charging the doctors and nurses in the case will be taken soon,” the officer said on the condition of anonymity.
Kozhikode resident Harshina (33) had undergone a c-section procedure on November 30, 2017, at Kozhikode MCH during which the doctors had allegedly left behind a pair of forceps in her stomach. For five years, she was in severe pain but was unaware of the cause, said police. In 2022, during a body scan at a private hospital, the forceps were found in her abdomen which were later removed. Based on this, Harshina filed a case against the Kozhikode MCH in February this year, however, the doctors dismissed their involvement and pointed to her two previous surgeries at hospitals, police said.
The officer quoted above said that the police will not file an appeal in court against the district medical board which had reportedly said that it “could not be conclusively proven that medical negligence took place at Kozhikode MCH”. The errant doctors and nurses are likely to be booked under Section 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code, said another officer familiar with the matter.
Harshina has been protesting in front of the Kozhikode MCH and the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram since Wednesday demanding action against the errant doctors and a fair compensation package. The state cabinet had in March offered ₹2 lakh compensation, which she declines calling the offer “inadequate”.
On Wednesday, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had also written to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan requesting him to look into the demands made by Harshina and offer her an adequate compensation package. He also requested the state to put in place effective safeguards to “prevent such incidents” of medical negligence.
Meanwhile, former health minister KK Shailaja while talking to the reporters on Thursday said, “The government will stand with the woman who underwent so much pain following the medical negligence incident.”
