Fabrication of maternal death case sheets: Health Dept conducts inquiry at Govt Rajaji Hospital

Madurai: Taking cognizance of the allegations of fabrication of case sheets against the medical officers of Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) in Madurai, the state health department has formed an expert committee to probe the case on Monday.

The Obstetrics and Gynaecology (OG) department of the GRH has allegedly fabricated the case sheets of two maternal cases to distort facts in their favour. 

According to Deputy Director of Health Dr Kumaraguru, the issue of fabrication of case sheets came to light during the monthly maternal death audits conducted with the city health officer, joint director of medical & rural health services and duty assistant professor at GRH.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu: HC rescues doctors of gross medical negligence charges, says continuation of criminal proceedings legal abuse

Detecting the tampering of details, the district collector herself wrote a letter to Health Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi requesting him to take proper action. He informed that the case sheets of two maternal cases include a patient who died on September 2 and a patient who died on September 5.

As per a recent media report, the collector informed that the maternal death of the patient was audited on September 3. Subsequently, she asked the duty assistant, OG, GRH to submit a copy of the case sheet for a detailed audit. While comparing the case sheet photocopied on September 3 and the case sheet provided by GRH on September 4, she realized that the latter has been tampered with in nine places. She noticed that pages have been rewritten and symptoms like one new episode of chills, rigours, vomiting and abdominal distention have been included in the case sheet while a few pages changed completely. 

An audit about the death of the second patient was done on September 7, and the collector said that she noted discrepancies in the patient record. No treatment records or notes were maintained until the patient passed away. But after she passed away, the diagnosis was done and details was added to the treatment notes just as if it had been done previously. The collector claimed that ECHO notes were made and inserted on records after the patient died and admission guidance was also added after that. She went on to state that the GRH dean and the director of the OG department had not taken any action despite her suggestion to suspend the concerned medical professional, reports The New Indian Express.

Doctors at Urban Primary Health Centres have also informed Madurai Corporation Commissioner that GRH doctors are allegedly not providing proper care to pregnant women referred by them. "Even in the maternal death of Thilagavathi on September 29 allegedly due to postpartum haemorrhage, the GRH recorded it as a death caused by dengue fever," the doctors said.

Moreover, they also alleged that when the Madurai CHO paid a visit to GRH and sought details about maternal deaths, the doctors there threatened them. However, on the other hand, the doctors of the OG department of GRH have complained to the dean that they have been harassed and verbally abused by the visiting CHO. He and his team had forcibly drawn samples from the patient and tried to take photos of ward records, they alleged. 

A senior health official reported that Shilpa Prabhakar Satish of the National Health Mission had received the collector's letter. On Monday, an investigation will be initiated by a group that includes retired gynaecologists Dr. Shobha, Dr. Rathinakumar, and Palani, the state programme manager for NHM.

According to a statement from Dr K Senthil, president of the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association, Madurai CHO Dr Vinodh and his team entered the GRH maternal ward without permission, threatened the staff, and took blood samples from the corpse, reports the Daily. He further added that the association's members will stage a protest by refraining from completing non-emergency procedures condemning the CHO's move and calling for his suspension.