CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered the Tamil Nadu Medical Council to conduct an inquiry into a woman’s complaint over a 5-cm-long surgical needle left in her abdomen after a C-section and tubectomy in 2010. The woman, M Sangeetha of Ayanavaram in Chennai, saying that she had suffered for nearly 12 years before the needle was surgically removed in 2022, sought action against the respective doctor for medical negligence.
The petitioner stated that her second delivery took place at the Corporation Maternity Hospital at Ayanavaram on September 4, 2010. She underwent lower segment caesarean section with tubectomy and received treatment till September 23. Even after being discharged, she suffered severe abdominal pain, menstrual bleeding and discomfort resulting in weight loss.
After the root cause of the pain could not be ascertained despite consultations at several hospitals, she approached the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital in 2022, where the doctors diagnosed the presence of the needle and removed it through another surgery. She also stated that she had to borrow money to meet her medical expenses.
Justice P T Asha observed that the diagnosis at the KMCH exposes the callous manner in which the surgery was performed. “This court cannot lose sight of the fact that she belongs to the lower strata of the society. That apart, she could not have least imagined that a surgical needle would have been left inside her abdomen after the surgery.” The judge directed the TNMC to conduct an inquiry by taking into consideration the entire records of treatment and pass the orders within two months.
