Woman's Hands, Feet Amputated at Top Hospital in Delhi; Family Cries Foul

NEW DELHI: In a rare incident, both hands and feet of a 44-year-old woman were amputated by the surgeons of a city-based private hospital allegedly without informing the patient's kin, a charge stoutly denied by the hospital.

Premwati was admitted to south Delhi's Max hospital on August 7, after complaining of stomach pain and fever.

According to the patient's brother, doctors carried out necessary tests and found that the patient had perforation of the intestine and required an operation.

"The surgeons initially said there was a need to do a surgery for the problem so we gave our consent. But, after the surgery, doctors said she had developed severe sepsis and that they will have to cut a couple of her fingers which had got infected," said P.R. Saini.

Saini added: "Even though we did not give our consent for the second surgery, the doctors performed it. The result was shocking as instead of amputating the fingers they amputated the upper and lower limbs."

Following the incident, the family members have registered a police complaint against the surgeons and the hospital.

However, according to Max hospital authorities, they took consent from the patient's attendant before the amputation surgery.

"Because of acute septicemia, the patient developed gangrene of both upper and lower limb. The patient underwent amputation of the gangrenous parts by the orthopaedic team after thorough pre-operative evaluation and consent from the patient's attendants," said a hospital statement.

The statement further added that the family was duly explained the criticality of her condition, following which the family members also signed a high-risk consent form.

"At present, the patient is in the ICU and is being attended to by multiple specialists," said the statement.