3 doctors booked for alleged medical negligence after patient dies at Karkala Hospital
Medical Negligence?
Udupi: A case of medical negligence has been registered against three doctors at a private hospital in Karkala following the death of a patient on the operating table, allegedly due to a delay of nearly 3.5 hours in treatment.
According to the deceased patient’s family, she had been undergoing treatment at the same hospital since May 10. When her condition worsened, they brought her back to the hospital on May 14 at 9:30 am, but no doctor examined her for several hours despite repeated requests, leading to a delay in treatment.
They said that when doctors finally attended to her at 1 pm, they advised immediate surgery. During the procedure, the family was told that the patient needed to be shifted to another hospital. However, when they later checked the operating theatre, they were informed that she had already passed away.
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Following the complaint, the Deputy Commissioner of Udupi ordered a detailed inquiry into the alleged negligence. The inquiry report, submitted by Dr H Ashok, District Surgeon, Government District Hospital, Udupi, revealed serious lapses by the treating doctors.
According to the report, the doctors failed to take essential precautionary measures before surgery and did not inform the patient’s relatives about her condition, despite having enough time to do so. The report also confirmed, based on written statements from the doctors, that the patient died during the operation.
The report concluded that prima facie medical negligence on the part of the surgeons was evident. Based on these findings, Karkala Town police registered a case against the doctors under Section 106 (causing death by negligence), read with 3(5) of the BNS.
As per the TOI news report, the incident dates back to May 14, 2025, when she was brought to the hospital in the morning, at around 9.30 am, after developing severe abdominal pain. As per the complaint filed by her daughter, the patient was given intravenous fluids, but no doctor examined her for several hours.
It was only around 1 pm that Dr *** examined her and told the family that an emergency surgery was needed to save her life. She was immediately taken to the operation theatre, where the three accused doctors were present.
Around 4 pm, the family was told that the patient needed to be shifted to Mangaluru. However, they were later informed that she had died during the surgical procedure.
Following this, the deceased patient’s doctor filed a complaint against the doctors. Now, the doctors have been booked in the case, and an investigation is underway.
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