CHENNAI/NAGERCOIL: Ten months after slipping into coma following a thyroid surgery at the Government Taluk Hospital in Kuzhithurai, Seethalakshmi (31), breathed her last at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) here on Monday.
Seethalakshmi was fine until she underwent a surgery on March 3 at the Kuzhithurai hospital in Kanyakumari district for removal of a thyroid nodule after she complained of difficulty in swallowing.
After the surgery, she slipped into coma. She was shifted to the medical college hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.
However, even after days of treatment, her condition worsened.
Subsequently, her husband C Subramanian, a daily wage labourer, approached the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court seeking better treatment for his wife.
The court directed the Health Secretary and the Director of Medical and Rural Health Services to provide better treatment for her in Chennai.
Subramanian had also appealed to the State government to allow for euthanasia as he could not afford his wife’s medical expenses.
On coming to know about their plight, former chief minister J Jayalalithaa had granted `5 lakh to the family and ordered special medical treatment for Seethalakshmi on May 12.
“I had first consulted a doctor at a private hospital for treatment to her difficulty in swallowing. They referred me to the government hospital when I explained my inability to bear the cost of surgery to remove thyroid nodule. My wife was fine till 8.30 am on March 3, the day of surgery, but it all went downhill for our family since then. Today, I got the message saying she breathed her last. None of the hospitals explained me about her actual health condition and what went wrong till this hour, and I am on the way to the hospital without knowing what exactly her problem was. Today my son S Shiva Ganesh (8) and daughter Saranya (6) have lost their mother to medical negligence. I don’t wish this to happen to any other family,” Subramanian (39), hailing from Marthandam in Kanyakumari, told Express.
According to doctors at the RGGGH, this could happen to anybody when administered anaesthesia before surgeries.
“It depends on the physical condition of the patient. That is why doctors seek consent from family members before surgery. We don’t know what exactly went wrong,” the hospital management added. The last rites of Seethalakshmi will be performed in her native place.