When health care becomes a business, doctors lose human values. Read this medical case which was happened over two year period in a hospital in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Hospital – Global Hospital
Lakdi-ka-phool,
Hyderabad - 500 004 A.P.
Patient: A.Jagannatham
Residence: Malakpet, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
Age: Mid 50’s.
He was admitted with damaged liver in April, 2003 in global hospital. Doctors advised liver transplantation. His wife, Prameela, volunteered the liver. The operation was conducted with the large right half of the liver taken away from Prameela and transplanted in the body of Jagannatham.
Tragedy:
2 days after the surgery, donor Prameela suffered heart attack and went into coma. And 15 days later, her husband died of sepsis (infection). Prameela never came out of coma to see him die. Prameela died on January 9, 2007 after lying comatose for 44 months.
The family filed a police complaint charging the hospital with the negligence and filed a compensation claim with the consumer court. A ruling is still awaited.
In the mean time, Hospital slapped Rs.44 lakh claim on the family as charges for failed operation and other services. The family already spent up Rs.10 lakh to the hospital expenses.
Because of medico legal formalities, Prameela body was not handed over to her sons, but taken for post mortem.
His son says: “They said my mother would be normal in five weeks that my father would recover in six weeks. The doctors have to date not told us exactly why my mother suffered a heart attack”.
Dr. K.Ravindranath, MD of the hospital, said:”We are not gods. We did every thing we could. The surgery was successful; his liver was functioning well enough. Sepsis affects 20% transplant patients. The drugs we gave also numb the immune system further. If not for our efforts, Prameela would not have lived so long”.
Please comment on this medical case. It happened in our hi-tech Hyderabad city.
Source: Times of India.
