Bengaluru: Medical negligence costs woman’s life

Bengaluru: A case of medical negligence cost the life of a woman in the city. Family members and relatives of the 72-year-old Jayalakshmi took the body to Raju Institute of Nephro Urology Clinic at Vijayanagar and protested against the doctors Dr S. Lakshmi Narayana Raju and Dr S. Venkata Ramana Raju for their alleged negligence.

Ms Jayalakshmi’s treatment started in July 2017 when she was taken to the clinic for a urinary infection. Dr Lakshmi Narayana Raju found that the patient had kidney stones and she had to be treated immediately. She was referred to GM hospital, Nagarbhavi where the two doctors, who are brothers, were working as consultants.

While giving anaesthesia, the patient’s dentures were pushed inside her throat which remained unnoticed for nearly a month before it was removed at Fortis Hospital.

In August 2017, Ms Jayalakshmi’s son Gangadhar filed a case of negligence against the doctors. The case is still pending before the court. After the surgery, Ms Jayalakshmi became weak gradually. A few days before she died, she fell sick again and was admitted to Mahaveer Jain hospital at Girinagar.

The scans and X-rays showed another major flaw. During the kidney stone operation in 2017, Raju brothers had used urethral stent, which had to be removed two months after the surgery, but it was still in the patient’s body even after two years. The stent had caused an infection that spread all over the body and it was not mentioned in the discharge sheet by Dr Raju.

Mr Gangadhar said, “The doctor brothers are solely responsible for my mother's death. My mother was normal until she was treated by these doctors. She suffered for two years, which cost us around Rs 35 lakh. This clinic has to be closed and their licence cancelled. The doctors also tried to bribe me asking me to take back my case."