BENGALURU: A 55-year-old man who was admitted to an eye care hospital for a cataract surgery, lost his life during treatment, leading to allegations of medical negligence. Sajan, a security guard, suddenly died during preparations for the surgery on Thursday.
“We trusted the hospital, thinking it was a small surgery, but the next thing we heard is that he is dead. Moreover, he was not even at the designated hospital,” claimed Raju, son of the deceased. He said the family was not even informed that he had been moved to a different hospital in Banaswadi.
Raju alleged that the hospital stopped responding to calls and messages, and closed three hours before its designated timing on Thursday.
Raju said the hospital had quoted Rs 26,000 for the operation, for which the family had initially denied consent. However, hospital officials insisted on proceeding with the surgery. “We had not bought the medicines the hospital had sought for my father. I don’t know how they could start the surgery without those medicines,” he added.
A hospital official responded to the claims, saying the deceased had a “nephrology-related problem” which led to breathing difficulties during the procedure. He said Sajan was only given eye drops to numb his eyes, and he suddenly started experiencing breathing difficulties.
The hospital staff quickly shifted him to a nearby multi-speciality hospital, but he died on the way, said Nagendra, marketing manager of the hospital. He said the multi-speciality hospital later confirmed that the deceased had suffered a cardiac arrest.
The hospital authorities were silent on why they closed the hospital three hours prior to the normal timing, claiming they did not know about it.
Raju, however, contradicted the hospital’s claims, saying his father was completely healthy and had no other health issues. Banaswadi police registered an unnatural death report in connection with the case.
