Himesh Vankar, who has been differently
abled since birth, forgot all his struggles when he held his baby daughter in
his arms for the first time. But his happiness did not last long. The
Himmatnagar resident slid down the pinnacle of joy into the depths of despair
20 days later, when his wife Ganga died of septicaemia caused by a surgical
swab allegedly forgotten inside her by doctors at Civil hospital.
Eight months later, the 30-year-old a
tailor by profession is now struggling to prove that his wife died of medical
negligence. He filed seven applications under the Right to Information Act
(RTI), seeking details of post-delivery care taken by Civil doctors. In reply,
every time, the hospital handed over reports for the first day of delivery
only. Vankar then wrote to the Gujarat Medical Council seeking action against
the hospital, but is still waiting for a reply.
“My wife was differently abled, too. I
brought Ganga to Civil hospital because I thought doctors at this reputed
hospital could handle any complications that could arise during delivery due to
her physical condition. But their negligence robbed my child of a mother,“ he
said, rocking his daughter Gunjan in his arms.
INFECTION SPREADS
Doctors had to resort to forceps
delivery in Ganga's case. In a forceps delivery, a doctor applies forceps -an
instrument shaped like a pair of large spoons or salad tongs -to the baby's
head to help guide it out of the birth canal. Many a time, doctors make a
surgical cut (episiotomy) to avoid vaginal tear, widen the passage and make the
birth easier. Following delivery, doctor stitches up the cut.
Gynaecologist Jayesh Amin said, “We use
swabs to staunch the blood flow and remove it two hours later. If the blood
flow is extreme, we may even keep it for 24 hours but never longer than that.“
However, in Ganga's case, doctors
allegedly goofed up the post-delivery checkup and the pad was never removed.
“After coming home, the 23-year-old
began complaining of pain in the vaginal area.Her health began to deterio
rate,“ said Vankar.
Ganga was finally admitted to Sir
Pratap General Hospital in Himmatnagar on February 9 where Dr Bhamini Babulal
Pandit operated on her.
As per her note on the medical reports,
Dr Pandit stated that she removed a `pad kept at episiotomy wound' operated in
Ahmedabad nine days ago. Eleven days later, Ganga died of septicaemia after
bacteria from the infection poisoned her blood.
NO RTI REPLY
Dr Amin says, Twenty-four hours after
delivery, a mother's health has to be scrutinised and a report of her condition
has to be maintained without fail.“
Vankar filed seven applications under
RTI, seeking Ganga's report made on second day of her delivery. Each time, the
hospital handed him only the first day report, raising questions about doctors'
negligence.
“Had they checked my wife the second
day, they would have discovered the pad. They cannot produce the report be
cause they never made one,“ said Vankar.
Fed up of being stalled, Vankar wrote
to GMC on August 8, seeking action against the hospital. He never received a
reply.
When Mirror contacted GMC President
Nitin S Vora, he said, “The man should first lodge a complaint with Civil
hospital. If the hospital does not take action, it should be diverted to GMC
for probe.“
He added, “We do not have the
infrastructure to carry out detailed investigation in every case. We meet once
in 2 or 3 months to discuss all cases.“
Medical Superintendent (Civil Hospital)
M M Prabhakar said he was not aware of the case and refused to make any further
comment.
Meanwhile, Vankar fights on so that
doctors are more careful in future when attending to patients in order to
prevent another such death.
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