‘Botched up’ surgery: woman sets May 22 deadline for govt. to address her demands

K.K. Harshina, the woman from Adivaram in Kozhikode district who claimed a surgical instrument was left behind in her stomach after a C-Section surgery at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) in 2017, has set a deadline of May 22 for the State government to address her concerns.

K.K. Harshina, the woman from Adivaram in Kozhikode district who claimed a surgical instrument was left behind in her stomach after a C-Section surgery at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) in 2017, has set a deadline of May 22 for the State government to address her concerns.

Addressing the media here on Wednesday, she said if the government did not meet her demands for a fair compensation and action against health staff responsible for her plight even then, another round of agitation would be launched. Her husband, M.K. Ashraf, and functionaries of a local action committee were with her.

Ms. Harshina and Mr. Ashraf said that the State government recently declaring a compensation of ₹2 lakh was an insult to her. “We had to spend lakhs of rupees for treatment in the past few years. We had to mortgage even our house to get a loan,” they said. She pointed out that the government was yet to fulfil the promises given to her by Health Minister Veena George on March 4.

She had been staging an indefinite agitation outside the MCH raising her demands. Ms. Harshina said she had called off the agitation after Ms. George promised her fair compensation and action against those who were responsible for the “botched up” surgery. Even after a month, there had been no action, she alleged.

“The Health department is learnt to have conducted at least three inquiries into my complaint. But they are yet to determine how the instrument got inside my body. They even conducted a forensic probe to find out how old is the instrument. Now, the Home department is launching another investigation. But there is no clarity,” Ms. Harshina said.

The instrument in her body was identified in 2022 after a body scan was done at a private hospital where she sought treatment for urinary infection. Thereafter, it was removed through another surgery at the medical college hospital itself. The hospital authorities, however, are saying that the instrument must have been left behind during one of her previous deliveries.

But Ms. Harshina pointed out that she had undergone an MRI scan in 2017 January. “If there had been any metallic instrument in my body then, its presence would have come to light then. It didn’t. The C-Section surgery at the MCH was done later, in November that year,” she said. Both Mr. Ashraf and Ms. Harshina also accused the Health Minister’s office of being lukewarm to their concerns. “I will start another round of agitation outside the hospital if the government does not address my demands,” she added.