ALAPPUZHA: A couple from Alappuzha began a legal battle against the government doctors and a scanning centre for their failure to detect genetic disorders in their newborn child after the woman underwent ultrasound scans seven times during her pregnancy.
Surumy, 34, a native of Navarojipurayidam in Alappuzha municipality, delivered a child with deformities in the face, hole in the heart and lungs.
Her husband, Anish, is a taxi driver and is the only breadwinner in the family. The couple have two other daughters.
The two senior doctors of Alappuzha Beach Woman And Children (WAC) Hospital treated her from the beginning of pregnancy. They advised scanning at different intervals of seven times during the pregnancy.
However, the ultrasound scanning was carried out in two centres in Alappuzha, and it failed to identify any deformity, the couple said.
After delivery, the parents petitioned the district collector and police chief against two doctors of WAC Hospital and the laboratories. The police have started an investigation into the case. After the issue became controversial, the health minister ordered a probe into the incident.
According to Anish, the doctors of WAC Hospital and scanning centres failed to identify the deformities. “The doctors advised scanning in the interval of the pregnancy period to identify any deformity in the child. If they had identified any deformity, medical termination could be carried out at an earlier stage, but it did not happen,” he said.
Surumy was admitted to the WAC Hospital on October 30 for delivery. On November 2, the doctors said that the child had developed some issues and advised Surumy to shift the patient to Alappuzha Medical College Hospital (MCH).
"On the examination by doctors at the MCH, another scan was prescribed and it revealed that the child developed unusual deformities." said Anish.
He said that each of the scannings was aimed to identify the development of each body part of the newborn inside the womb. However, the doctors in the scanning centre did not properly examine the child.
"For some time no doctors were present in the scanning centre and the technician scanned my wife,” Anish alleged.
Alappuzha DySP M R Madhubabu said they received a complaint and directed Alappuzha South Police Station house officer K Sreejith to examine the matter.