Chennai: “Her only last wish was to donate her eyes. She even pledged them. But unfortunately, the medical team from Sankara Nethralaya could not remove the eyes (iris) saying she had eye infection. I could not save her from death though I spent Rs 40 lakh for treating her nor could I fulfill her last wish,” bemoans Gowrishankar, civil sub contractor, Chennai, whose wife had died due to a controversial weight loss surgery at a private hospital here on Tuesday.
Gowrishankar alleged that his wife Amudha who had undergone weight loss surgery (laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy) last year had developed complications following the “botched up” surgery and her health deteriorated steadily. “She had to be admitted to the Apollo hospital on four occasions. The doctors who performed the surgery at Bharathiraja Hospital had not done the operation well. She couldn’t eat and the food leaked out of the stomach.”
He alleged that the holes on her stomach were not sutured and pus had collected. When the medical team from Sankara Nethralaya arrived they could not remove the eyes as she had jaundice, he claimed and accused the hospital MD Dr Natasen and Laparascopic and bariatric surgeon Dr. M. Maran of “forcing” his wife to undergo the surgery. Amudha Gowrishankar (35), operated on August 11, 2014, experienced abdominal pain and needed two more procedures after the surgery. After public outrage outside Bharathiraja Hospital, the medical fraternity rallied behind the surgeon and held a meeting and explained that there had been no negligence. However, the relatives sought post-mortem to strengthen their claim of medical negligence. The autopsy was conducted at the Government Royapettah Hospitalon Tuesday afternoon.
“This is not a cosmetic surgery. We had counseled the couple about the precautions to be taken post surgery. The patient ought to have strictly adhered to a diet regimen besides abstaining from lifting weights. But two weeks after the surgery she came to us breathless. We found about 100 ml of fluid collected in her abdomen which she later said she consumed some medicine given by someone at a gym,” claims Dr Maran.
Medically, the surgery was fine and it had not caused any complications. The patient was obese and diabetic. Much against the advice she had eaten non-vegetarian food and rushed to the hospital with fluid collection in her abdomen again. “On both the occasions we gave stomach wash and saved her pulling out of the complications… normally a patient undergoing this surgery should not lift weights for six months and follow a diet regimen,” Dr Maran said.
