KOCHI: The year-long fight for justice by K A Abooty, the father of Shamna Thasneem, the medico who died at Kalamassery medical college, almost claimed his life. Last week, almost exactly a year after he lost his daughter, the 49-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest while reaching Kochi after offering Umrah, forcing him to rest at his residence at Iritty, Kannur.
The Crime Branch submitted a report April 26 before the state-level expert medical apex board which has been sitting on it without taking any further action. DySP P A Sasidharan who investigated the case had raised several questions before the apex board for its expert opinion.
The answers were received recently and the investigation report will be filed soon, said a Crime Branch officer. However, Sasidharan who had completed the entire investigation was transferred before receiving the report of the medical apex board on the issue of medical negligence. An apex board report of April 26 accessed by Express via RTI stated the board concluded there was medical negligence on the part of the HOD of general medicine Dr Jilse George and physician Dr Krishna Mohan who were on duty. They had attended to Shamna at different points and were responsible for the medico’s death. It also accused the doctors at Aluva’s Rajagiri Hospital where she was admitted for expert treatment of negligence.
The report said no one, from nurses to house surgeons to junior and senior residents at the medical college, had followed standard procedures in Shamna’s treatment.
The house surgeon who treated her on the first day of admission on July 17 did not even consult or inform the duty medical officer Dr Fincy regarding the treatment given to her. The report says Dr Jilse did not ensure all required lifesaving medicine and equipment were available at medical wards; their non-availability was a factor when complications arose for Shamna. The report also found PG student Dr Bino Jose made entries in the case sheet after the arrival of Dr Jilse and after Shamna turned critical with the intention of covering up lapses. Dr Jilse abetted Bino in this regard. The report added duty physician Dr Krishna provided Shamna with a bag and mask ventilation instead of mechanical ventilation which was available after she collapsed.
The duty physician did not mention in the case sheet or referral letter that Shamna’s complications arose after she was administered Ceftriaxone injection. In the referral letter to Rajagiri Hospital, he wrote she suffered cardiac arrest following fever and respiratory distress. He also did not care to check and verify “whether the patient was dead or alive at the time of shifting to another hospital”.
