HYDERABAD: The unremitting agony of the families of the women who underwent Double Puncture Laparoscopy (DPL) as part of the National Family Planning Indemnity Scheme (NFPIS) recently in the Civil Hospital, Ibrahimpatnam in Ranga Reddy further deepened on Tuesday with two more women breathing their last while undergoing treatment, taking the toll to four.
As many as 34 women underwent the DPL surgery on August 25 of whom four women approached a private hospital complaining of acute gastroenteritis later. Two of them — N Mamatha of Narsaipally and M Sushma of Lingampally, both aged 22, died on Sunday and Monday respectively, while two more — A Lavanya, 22, and M Mounika, 26, passed away on Tuesday.
Enraged over the “negligence” in performing the surgeries, BJP and Congress workers blocked the Directorate Of Public Health And Preventive Medicine office entry points and staged protests on the arterial roads, disrupting vehicular traffic. They set fire to the effigies of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, holding the State government responsible for the tragedy.
Confirming the deaths, Director of Public Health (DPH) Dr G Srinivasa Rao also revealed that nine more women were under treatment — seven in Apollo and two NIMS in Hyderabad. “They have been suffering from fever, abdominal pain and gastrointestinal problems,” he said.
He said that the women who died could have consumed contaminated food and water after the surgery.
“We have constituted a team of five experts to investigate whether the equipment used during the surgeries was properly sterilised or not. The committee will look into the possibility of the women already suffering from an infection before they underwent surgery. The team will submit its report within a week,” the DPH added.
The DPH said that the Superintendent of Civil Hospital, Ibrahimapatnam, has been placed under suspension pending inquiry. The Health Department also temporarily suspended the registration of the surgeon who performed the surgeries. Dr Srinivasa Rao, however, added that it was for the first time such an incident has been reported in the State. “Thousands of such surgeries have been performed in the State. But this is the first time such an incident has been reported,” he said.
Panel appointed to identify all lapses,asserts Collector
While there are only four surgeons who are qualified to perform DPL surgeries in the State, a single doctor performed all 34 surgeries in Ibrahimpatnam on August 25. “According to the NFPIS guidelines, a doctor cannot perform more than 30 DPL surgeries in a day. However, four more women voluntarily participated in the camp that day,” the DPH informed.
Meanwhile, Ranga Reddy district Collector Amoy Kumar admitted that there is a possibility of an error on the side of the surgeon. He said: “We don’t know how where things went wrong. It could have been during the operation or after. The government has appointed a committee to look into the possible lapses.”
When asked about what led to the deaths of four women, the Ranga Reddy District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) Swarajya Lakshmi said that it was possible that the victims had contracted an infection after the surgery or could have been due to procedural lapses. “The women who underwent the surgeries were admitted to Apollo and NIMS. We haven’t got the post-mortem report yet. Once we get it, we will have an idea of what led to their deaths,” she said.
BJP and Congress protesters alleged that the deaths were due to the negligence of medical doctors. They also alleged that the doctors ignored the victims’ ill-health, and went ahead with the DPL operations, putting the lives of the 34 women at risk.
Greater Hyderabad Mahila Congress president M Varalaxmi, who attended the funeral of one of the victims said that the women were discharged the same day after the completion of DPL operations despite many of them reporting serious health complications. She said that the three children of 29-year-old Lavanya who breathed her last in the early hours of Tuesday will now have to live without their mother.
Varalaxmi alleged that the officials tried to hush up the case by hastily conducting the last rites of the victims while deploying hundreds of police personnel.