Patient dies in TVM medical college due to alleged negligence, delay in organ transplant; Probe ordered

 

Thiruvananthapuram: A patient awaiting kidney transplant died due to an alleged four-hour delay in surgical procedures at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College. The kidney was transported from Ernakulam via ambulance and reached Thiruvananthapuram on time. However, the surgery got delayed and the patient died on Sunday. Health Minister Veena George had initiated a probe into the incident.

It is said that the kidney of a brain-dead 36-year-old patient in Rajagiri Multispeciality Hospital in Kochi was reached the Medical College in quick time, using the green corridor system under which traffic is rearranged to prioritise the movement of the organ. Though the ambulance carrying the organ reached by around 5.30 p.m. on Sunday, the charge is that the transplant operation began at least four hours late. Making matters worse, the beneficiary has been declared dead.

It is also alleged that the Medical College was not kept on high alert when the ambulance carrying the kidney arrived from Rajagiri Hospital.The traffic was controlled in the area to facilitate the journey of the ambulance without any delay. However, the medical college authorities were not prepared to conduct the surgery. They were well aware that the surgery was to take place on the day.

The Medical College had not put in place any measures to receive the organ container from the ambulance and rush it to the operation theatre. The people who arrived in the ambulance themselves had to take the container and rush to the operation theatre. It is further said that the team had to wait for at least five minutes before the operation theatre was opened to receive the container. After four hours of delay, the surgery was eventually conducted at 9:30 pm. However, the recipient died on Sunday morning.

The hospital authorities said the delay in the dialysis resulted in an unfortunate situation. However, it was revealed that the hospital failed to conduct dialysis procedures on time even as the ambulance started its journey from Ernakulam. It is alleged there was a serious lapse on the part of the Nephrology and Urology departments.