CHENNAI: A medical board constituted based on the order of the Supreme Court to provide expert opinion on the treatment given to former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at the Apollo Hospital has concluded that “the treatment was per correct medical practise and no errors have been found in the care provided.”
The apex court on November 30, 2021, directed the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to constitute a board of doctors after Apollo Hospitals submitted a plea in the court to constitute a medical board to help the Justice Arumugasamy Commission, which was inquiring into her death.
The three-page report of the seven-member board headed by Sandeep Seth, professor, department of cardiology, accessed by TNIE, said the panel heard all statements of witnesses, pored over available documents, and reviewed the medical records of the Apollo Hospital, Chennai.
It also went through recordings of radiological investigations and echocardiograms and other records. According to the sequence of events provided by the report, the former CM was under treatment for diabetes, vertigo, atopic dermatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, hypothyroid, and chronic bronchitis prior to her admission into Apollo Hospital on September 22, 2016, at 10pm.
The former CM had diabetes beyond control as her HbA1c was in the range of 11 and she was eating grapes, cakes, and sweets prior to her hospitalisation, said the report quoting her doctor. When she was rushed to the hospital, she was found in an altered sensorium. She was rushed to the emergency room with blood sugar in the range of 560 mg/dl and saturation at 94% and blood pressure at 140/100 mm Hg.
Her condition worsened on September 28 when she was put into intubation.The tube keeps the trachea open so that air can get through. Post intubation, her lung condition worsened. Tracheostomy, an opening created at the front of the neck so a tube can be inserted into the windpipe (trachea) to help her breathe was done on October 7.
The report also said doctors decided not to perform an angiogram or any intervention on October 14, and that some attempts at speech were possible on November 2.On December 4, Jayalalithaa developed increased breathlessness and ventilation was restarted. She suffered a cardiac arrest and ECMO insertion was done.On December 5 at 11.30pm, she was declared dead after doctors found there was no brain or heart activity, the report said.
Supreme Court order
The apex court on November 30, 2021, directed the AIIMS to constitute a board of doctors to help Justice Arumugasamy Commission