Forceps Left Inside Patient's Abdomen At GMC Kozhikode: Gynaecologist, 2 nurses get bail
Kozhikode: A Gynecologist and two staff nurses at Government Medical College, Kozhikode, who were accused in a medical negligence case, where forceps were allegedly left inside the patient's abdomen during a Caesarean section operation, were recently granted bail by the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court at Kunnamangalam.
Altogether four persons- two doctors and two staff nurses were accused in the issue and three among these four have now got bail from the Court. Among these three, a Professor of Gynecology at GMC Manjeri and two staff nurses at GMC Kozhikode have been granted bail.
However, the other doctor, currently employed as a gynaecologist at a private hospital, failed to turn up for the hearing. While considering the matter, the Court enquired about the absence of the second accused.
As per the latest media report by The Hindu, the bench of Judicial First Class Magistrate V.P. Abdul Sathar has demanded her presence in the next hearing, which has been listed for further hearing on July 20.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the matter came to light after Harshina, a 30-year-old woman from Kozhikode filed a complaint seeking a probe in October last year. She alleged that she faced health complications after undergoing a caesarean at the Government Medical College Hospital in 2017.
The woman had undergone her third caesarean at the Medical College in November 2017, with her earlier two C-sections performed in different private hospitals.
On September 17, 2022, the doctors of Kozhikode Medical College conducted a significant surgery on Harshinia, who was suffering from severe pain, to remove a mosquito artery forceps that had been in her stomach for the past five years. The mosquito artery forceps is a scissor-like piece of equipment surgeons use to clamp bleeding vessels during surgeries.
Based on the complaint, Kerala police conducted an investigation and found that forceps were accidentally left inside a woman's abdomen after surgery in 2017, The report indicated two doctors and two nursing staff of the hospital were responsible for the costly good-up.
A senior police officer had earlier said that the investigation confirmed that the forceps were accidentally left inside the woman’s body after the caesarean section, which was an alleged act of negligence by the doctors.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, the legal counsel of the case had advised the medical college police to initiate criminal proceedings against the two doctors and two nursing staff who were found responsible for leaving the forceps inside the patient's abdomen.
The legal counsel i.e. the District Government Pleader and prosecutor K N Jayakumar had earlier advised the investigating officer and Medical College station assistant commissioner of police K Sudarshan to take action and arrest them at the earliest.
Following this, the commissioner had been asked to register an FIR under Section 338 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on grounds of medical negligence against the accused.
Despite the legal counsel's advise, the medical college teachers had earlier vehemently opposed the move saying that 'The police move would put doctors and nurses in a shadow of a doubt.'
Earlier the medical college officials had initially denied any negligence, citing her previous caesareans in private hospitals. However, the police’s findings prompted the authorities to constitute a medical board for further investigation.
Despite the district medical board's acknowledgement that the scissors left behind in Harshina's stomach during the surgery was an act of medical negligence, the panel disagreed with the police's finding that the instrument got stuck in the woman’s stomach at the medical college.
Subsequently, the police appealed to the state committee for further instruction in the case. In response to this, the committee gave legal advice to file criminal proceedings against the accused and arrest them soon. Criticising the move, the teachers' association stated that no action should be taken against the doctors until the facts are proven.
Last year, after the submission of chargesheet at the Kunnamangalam court, Police recorded the arrest of a doctor and two nurses and then let them off on bail.
Consequently, the City Police Commissioner of Kozhikode submitted a request to the DGP and asked for permission to prosecute the four accused in the case. They were charged under sections punishable by imprisonment of up to two years. The probe by police revealed that a pair of artery forceps were stuck in the patient's stomach during her third delivery-related surgery at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital on November 30, 2017. Earlier this year, Kunnamangalam Judicial First Class Magistrate Court sent summons to the four accused health workers.
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