KOZHIKODE: After two months of protest against medical negligence, Pantheerankavu native Harshina has finally found a ray of hope in the case she filed before the Medical College police against the authorities of Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital.
After completing the probe, the police sent the investigation report to the state government and the state medical board stating that the pair of forceps found in Harshina’s abdomen belongs to Kozhikode MCH.
The investigation carried out by medical college assistant commissioner of police K Sudharsan, has recommended the formation of a medical board to discuss further proceedings in the case. On August 1, the board will convene a meeting that will have the presence of the DMO, the public prosecutor, and doctors from the gynaecology, anaesthesia, medicine, surgery, and forensic medicine departments.
For Harshina, mother of three, who suffered severe pain for more than five years after MCH doctors left a pair of forceps inside her abdomen following a C-section, it is a victory of truth.
“During the two-month-long protest in front of MCH, many people suspected my intentions and blamed me. I’m grateful to the almighty who helped me in this fight for justice,” she said. “I should be the last person to suffer the bitter experience of medical negligence. I had to suffer emotionally, physically and financially due to the negligence. I will continue the fight till I get justice,” she added.
Harshina filed a complaint with the city police commissioner on February 26. Based on the complaint, the Medical College maternity department superintendent, and two department heads of gynaecology have been listed as accused in the case under various sections of the Medical Negligence Act.
Harshina underwent her first two C-sections at Thamarassery taluk hospital in 2012 and 2016. The third C-section was done at Kozhikode MCH in 2017 after she experienced complications during pregnancy. But two months after the C-section at MCH, she started experiencing severe abdominal pain and sought treatment at various hospitals.
Ignorant about the forceps in her body and lack of diagnosis, she had to suffer the pain for over five years. This subsequently resulted in huge financial loss to her family, as her husband Ashraf had to wind up his business to take care of his ailing wife. Later, a doctor at a private hospital in Kozhikode traced the forceps in her body with the help of a scan report.