Smitha, 25, who slipped into coma five years ago allegedly after being administered an overdose of anaesthesia at Thrissur Medical College hospital, died at the hospital here on Tuesday.
She leaves behind her five-year-old daughter to be raised by her aged parents.
On May 27, 2008, Smitha was admitted for delivery. She was advised a Caesarean section. For the operation, she was allegedly given an overdose of anaesthesia and she went into coma. However, she successfully gave birth to a girl, but never emerged from the coma state.Smitha died hardly three months after her daughter Sree Bhadra turned five year old. Sreejith, Smitha’s husband, had divorced her and married another girl two years ago.
Smitha’s father had lodged a complaint soon after the incident and her youngest sister was offered a job in the medical college. The victim’s medical expenses were borne by the authorities till her death.
According to the authorities, her death was due to acute pneumonia, which she had been suffering for the past couple of days. “She had been admitted to the ICU since Sunday but was not responding to treatment. The death was confirmed in the wee hours of Tuesday,” said MCH superintendent K Balagopal. The body was taken to her home in Chalakkudy a couple of hours later and her funeral was held in the afternoon.
According to Balagopal, Smitha was administered anaesthesia without knowing that she was a heart patient. “It was never mentioned in any of her medical records and the dosage of anaesthesia had affected the brain,” he explained.