Time to step in
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: August 04, 2014 -
Medical negligence: 3-feet long bandage released in stool of operated patient :: Pix - Hueiyen Lanpao
In yet another case of medical negligence, a 66-year old woman patient who had been operated for stone accumulation in Gall Bladder has reportedly released a 3-feet long bandage while passing her stool.
Interestingly, the incident has come close behind the death of a woman in a child delivery case and the subsequent protest launched by the doctors and other medical staffs in JNIMS over leaving the dead body at the residence of the accused doctor.
So, comparing to loss of human life from medical negligence, the only consolation that the family members of the last victim of medical negligence could derive is from the fact that the victim is still alive to recount the ordeal she must have gone through and doctors concerned may take a sigh of relief from the realisation that no corpse would be left in their courtyard this time.
Nonetheless, unhappy over the whole incident, more particularly, the conduct of the attending doctors who have even diagnosed the patient to be suffering from cancer and hernia when there was no sign of any improvement in her condition after the operation on stone case, the aggrieved family members have appealed to the Government for conducting an inquiry into the matter within five days for taking up necessary action against the erring doctors concerned and warned of launching various intense agitations with the support of the civil society organisations if the demand is not met.
In short, another around of protest and confrontation is on the card.
In an uncanny similarity to the latest case of medical negligence, a doctor in Agartala left behind an 8-inch long corrugated drain tune inside the body of a woman patient who underwent laparoscopic surgery in January 2006.
While hearing this case last week, Chief Justice of Tripura High Court Justice Deepak Gupta had termed medical negligence as criminal offence punishable under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
On the other hand, taking serious note of media reports on medical negligence leading to childbirth at the gate of a government hospital at New Delhi recently, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) registered a suo-motu case and issued a notice to Delhi government for taking up necessary measures.
The point is, with Manipur Human Rights Commission remaining defunct for the last 3-4 years from the failure of appointing the required chairman and members, the aggrieved family members could expect no such reprieve or intervention.
But there has been a steady rise in the number of cases related to medical negligence in Manipur, and there could be no denial on this, and in most cases, the resultant confrontation has been between the patient party and the authorities of the hospital or clinic where the cases occurred and the involvement or interference of the related Government authorities has been almost nil.
So, it is high time for the State Government to step in, think over and find out whether it is sheer negligence or professional incompetency of the doctors that has led to the rise in the cases of medical negligence cases in Manipur today.
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