KOLLAM: The agonising wait for justice by the family of Lakshmi Santhosh, who died due to alleged medical negligence at a private hospital here, has entered almost a decade.
Lakshmi, a 24-year-old woman, was proceeding to Vavvakavu in December 2004 for attending a marriage with her husband in their car when she suddenly developed uneasiness in the stomach. She was rushed to the nearby Parabrahma Speciality Hospital.
She was attended at the casualty by a doctor and later by a surgeon, gynaecologist and a physician, all of them were later accused for her death due to medical negligence.
As per the death certificate, Lakshmi died of cardio-respiratory arrest consequent to the reaction spurred by an Ampicillin injection given at the hospital.
Only the case against the physician, Dr Ravikumar B, was quashed by the High Court in 2013, after it was found that he was consulted by the other doctors only when the patient became extremely critical.
After a complaint was filed by the victim’s septuagenarian mother A T Mani on her death, Lakshmi’s body was exhumed by the Oachira police and an inquest was conducted in 2005.
Further investigation by the District Medical Officer did not find any negligence and a panel was constituted to analyse the cause of death.
Meanwhile, the investigation was handed over to the Crime Branch which, in turn, submitted its report in 2010.
The Crime Branch filed the charge sheet only in 2010 after the intervention of the High Court.
In 2010, the panel found collective negligence on the part of all the doctors who examined Lakshmi after she was admitted to the Parabrahma Speciality Hospital.
Though a criminal case was registered against the accused, it was stayed by the High Court.
The parents of the victim had approached the District Consumer Redressal Forum seeking compensation for the death of their daughter and the Forum, after finding the first and the second accused guilty, awarded a sum of `15 lakh as compensation.
The accused subsequently moved the Kerala State Forum in appeal and since then there has been many adjournments.
The next hearing is slated for July 19.
The 73-year-old mother of the deceased and her 12-year-old daughter, who is staying with her father in the Gulf, are closely following the proceedings hoping for justice.
Another Incident
It was only last year that another case of medical negligence caught the nation’s attention when the victim was awarded a compensation of Rs 6 crore which with interest touched Rs 11 crore.
In that incident Dr Kunal Saha, who lost his wife Dr Anuradha Saha due to medical negligence at a Kolkata hospital, got justice from the Supreme Court after a 15-year-long legal battle.
Legal experts point out that though such cases are a regular occurrence, getting justice would be a tedious task for an ordinary man.