Two Doctors booked for allegedly leaving cotton in patient during C-section

Gurugram: Two doctors of a private hospital have been booked after a Gurugram court ordered FIR on the charge of medical negligence for leaving a cotton swab in the abdomen of a woman during caesarean.

The court of Gurugram chief metropolitan magistrate gave the order on Tuesday on a complaint by the woman's husband, whose pleas earlier for the registration of a criminal case against Shiva Hospital in sector 12 was turned down by the police.

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In his complaint to the court, the woman's husband, a Darjeeling native living here at Sikandarpur with his wife, said his wife was found pregnant in April 2020.

"There was a lockdown due to Covid and I had lost my job. In such a situation, I did not have money and took my wife to the government Anganwadi centre. The Anganwadi worker asked me to take my wife to Shiva Hospital in Sector-12," he said in his complaint to the court. "As I took my wife to Shiva Hospital, the doctors operated upon her on November 16, 2020 and a baby girl was born and the hospital charged Rs 30,000 from me," he added.

The husband alleged that right after the delivery, his wife started having abdominal pain and swelling with red marks on her stomach following which he again took her to the hospital where doctors just gave her some vitamins and other medicines to reduce pain.

But as the medicines given by the Shiva Hospital doctors did not work, he took her to another hospital where doctors suspected that she might be having stomach in her stomach and began another course of treatment.

"As my wife still did not get any relief and lost her weight by 16 kg while suffering all the pain that started post-delivery, I took her to a third hospital which advised a CT-Scan for my wife, following which she was found having some cotton sway like articles in her abdomen," he said.

He added in his complaint that after he reported the matter to Shiva Hospital, they first ignored the findings but later sent an ambulance to my home and got my wife picked up and admitted to the hospital without my knowledge and consent.

"At the hospital, they made her sign some blank forms and operated upon her and removed the swab," the complainant said, adding,  "As I went to the police, they ignored my complaint."

As per a media report in the Times of India, her husband had filed a complaint against Shiva hospital in sector-14 police station and on June 4, he had also filed a complaint with the commissioner of police and chief medical officer (CMO). However, the complainant further alleged that the police forced and threatened him to sign a bill of Rs 85,000 which was prepared by the hospital. The complainant approached a local court after the incident.

On the court's order, the police, however, has now lodged an FIR at the Sector 14 police station of Gurugram against the doctors of Shiva hospital under sections 417 (punishment for cheating), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code. Other IPC sections invoked in the FIR included sections 338 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (insult to the modesty of a woman) and 34 (common intention) of IPC at Sector 14 police station.

Police said they are investigating the case.

Stating that an FIR has been registered, the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Sector 14 police station, Satendar Singh said, "In such cases, the investigation is carried out on directions of the district's chief medical officer. Police would seek his help to form a team to investigate the case," quotes she the people.

Meanwhile, the hospital denied the allegations, stating that the patients went home happily after treatment. However, they did not comment anything on the alleged second surgery they performed without consent and the allegations of medical negligence.

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