Cloth left in woman's womb during C section delivery

Kundapur, (Karnataka): In a case of gross negligence allegedly by doctors at a nursing home here, a piece of cloth was found inside the body of a woman who come to there for delivery of her second child. It is alleged that even after cloth was discovered inside her during the scanning, the doctors failed to inform about the same to her family.

The matter, however, came to light only three months later, after she developed complications. Following the disclosure of the incident, the woman's family members and other locals gathered and protested in front of Sri Devi Nursing Home where her she had been admitted for Caesarian procedure.

Sulochana Shetty (31), a resident of Shanady in Kedur, had been admitted to Sri Devi Nursing Home on June 24 for the delivery of her second child. Dr Bhavani performed the Caesarian and also family planning procedure on Sulochana.

Sulochana was then discharged from the nursing home on July 7, but she continued to experience excruciating pain in the abdominal area. She also had continuous bleeding. She then went to Vikram Scanning Centre, but allegedly, the staff there refused to give her the scan report and said it would directly given to her doctors. When she returned to the hospital, she was told that she would have to undergo another minor surgery.

It is further alleged that though the patient grew worried and anxious and demanded to know the reason for the second surgery, she was denied the information. Her husband Arun Kumar then took her to Bangalore, where he is employed, for treatment, and a scanning report showed that there was nothing wrong with her.

However, the bleeding did not stop even after a month and the severe pain too continued. She then got admitted to St John's Hospital in Bangalore, and during CT scan, it came to light that a piece of cloth measuring 4.5 x 2.5 cm was in her uterus. She was a immediately operated upon at a cost of Rs 2 lac, and cloth was removed. Another surgery was done to sew up the wounds that had resulted out of the cloth being left in the body.

On Tuesday September 16, her family members and locals who came to know of the incident alleged that scanning centre in Kundapur and higher officials of the nursing had tried to cover up their doctor's negligence and thus played with the patient's life, besides subjecting her to agony. The police arrived at the spot and brought the situation under control.

Speaking to reporters, the patient's husband Arun Kumar said, "Due to doctor's negligence my wife has been put through so much torture. The doctor did not even perform family planning procedure even though we paid for it. Even after the presence of a piece of cloth became known after scanning, they did not inform us, and instead tried to cover up. Who would be responsible if something had happened to my wife?"

Meanwhile, Dr Ravindra Shetty, senior doctor and owner of the nursing home, said that it was an unintentional mistake that happened without anyone's knowlege. "We admit that a mistake has happened. There is no person who does not commit mistakes. We will take extra care to ensure that such mistakes do not happen in future," he said.

A complaint has been filed with the police, as well as with the consumer forum.

Source: Daijiworld