A pregnant woman who developed labour pain late in the night of 29 October 2023 lost her newborn due to alleged medical negligence at a Primary Health Centre in Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu.
The family members were in despair upon hearing the news of the loss of the infant. The woman’s husband spoke to newspersons detailing the sequence of events that occurred right from the time of admission.
He said, “We came at 11 PM to Thellar Government Primary Health Centre (PHC) because my wife started having contractions. We were asked to come to the hospital even when the labour pain was mild. I got her admitted at night itself. They said everything was normal and the delivery could be conducted here itself. At 3 AM, they said they would not be able to handle it so they called for an ambulance. The ambulance arrived but they again said the baby was healthy and they could conduct the delivery there itself. After 3 AM, they said there was some difficulty in the delivery process but they assured us they would take care of it.”
He further added that they took all the reports at night and pretended as if the doctor was inside the room.
“When we asked them, they said they had shown the reports to the doctor and he asked to carry on with the delivery at the PHC itself. They said everything (vitals) was normal, that BP was normal and the baby was fine. At around 7-7.45 AM, they said the baby was born. But they said that the baby was not breathing and were doing CPR. They were doing this CPR for 2 hours. The doctor was nowhere to be seen. He came at 9.30 AM and until that time, they were pretending as if he was inside the room. They pretended to keep an “air hose” for the baby. All duty doctors come at 9.30 AM only. There is no doctor here at night, there were only 2 nurses and it was them who conducted the delivery.”, he said.
சுக பிரசவம் ஆகிடும் ஆகிடும்னு சொல்லி, உள்ள டாக்டர் இருக்குற மாதிரியே ஆக்டிங் கொடுத்தாங்க… நர்ஸ மட்டும் வெச்சு ஆஸ்பிடலை ஓட்டிட்டிருக்காங்க.. அரசு ஆரம்ப சுகாதார நிலையத்தில் மருத்துவர்கள் இல்லாமல் செவிலியர்களே பிரசவம் பார்த்ததால் குழந்தை உயிரிழந்ததாக பெண்ணின் உறவினர்கள் பகீர்… pic.twitter.com/Uxv2y0GnLp
— Polimer News (@polimernews) October 30, 2023
Such instances of medical negligence are becoming a frequent feature in Tamil Nadu. Some of the recent incidents of medical negligence include:
- Head Constable Kothandapani’s 10-year-old daughter fell into a coma due to alleged medical negligence at Egmore Children’s Hospital.
- Kalpana, a pregnant woman, tragically passed away after a caesarean operation at Virudhachalam government hospital.
- 17-year-old football player Priya R lost her life due to medical negligence involving a tightly bound band following knee surgery.
- A one-and-a-half-year-old toddler passed away after his right hand was amputated, sparking allegations of medical negligence at the Government Institute of Child Health in Egmore.
- A 10-month-old girl died after receiving a vaccination at an Anganwadi centre in Tanjore, with parents suspecting the vaccine as the cause.
- A woman, Jyoti, had to amputate her arm due to alleged medical negligence after angio treatment at Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital. Her husband claimed doctors gave no explanation and removed flesh from her limb, raising concerns about further amputations.
In addition to the allegations of medical negligence, claims of medical shortage have also been raised. Here are a few:
- Reports of medicine shortages in Tamil Nadu government hospitals in 2022, with doctors claiming shortages of essential drugs.
- Medications experiencing significant shortages included Ciprofloxacin, Furosemide, Omeprazole, Clopidogrel, and Cefotaxime.
- Primary Health Centres faced shortages of snake bite medicines, antibiotics, and intravenous fluids.
- DMK Health Minister Ma Subramanian denied the shortages and encouraged people to report any issues to the helpline number 104.
Critics of the DMK, including BJP functionaries and several netizens questioned whether this was the “Dravidian Model” – a model of “dawn” that the DMK government had promised in the 2021 assembly elections.
BJP Tamil Nadu State Secretary SG Suryah posted a Tamil quote that said that the laws/justice would be scavenging on the dead under a demon’s reign.
பேய் அரசாண்டால் பிணம் தின்னும் சாத்திரங்கள்! pic.twitter.com/sAOOwGadfa
— Dr.SG Suryah (@SuryahSG) October 30, 2023
This is the state of current primary healthcare infrastructure in TN and health minister is seen at all press meetings of Udhayanidhi and promoting his jogging videos.. ithula yellathulayum no 1 aatchinnu ivangaley peetharthu.. who will answer this poor family? https://t.co/iY0ajod9Th
— NR (@NR_Sanghi) October 30, 2023
BJP Tamil Nadu Industrial Cell Vice President Selva Kumar lashed out at the DMK government saying that it is the worst government in history of the state. He said that government hospitals which are supposed to save the lives of the poor are turning into mortuaries calling for the resignation of Health Minister Ma. Subramanian.
தமிழகத்தில் இதுவரை பார்த்திராத கேடுகெட்ட ஆட்சி திராவிட மாடல் ஆட்சி.
எளிய மக்களை காக்க வேண்டிய அரசு மருத்துவமனை, நிர்வாக திறனற்ற அமைச்சரால் சாவு கூடங்களாக மாறி வருகின்றன.
உடனடியாக மருத்துவ அமைச்சரை பதவி நீக்கம் செய்வாரா முதல்வர் ? 😡 https://t.co/fyxoFqLYql— Selva Kumar (@Selvakumar_IN) October 30, 2023
இதுதான் திராவிட மாடலா? @mkstalin https://t.co/YbcQaC1jtR
— V PALANISAMY (@samysvm) October 30, 2023
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