Doctors leave gauze pad inside woman

Medical negligence

  The woman had given birth to a baby boy in the government-run district headquarters hospital last week and the doctors who supervised her delivery had allegedly forgotten to remove the cotton material from her body after the child birth.

An inquiry has been ordered after the woman’s husband lodged a complaint with the chief medical officer (CNO) of the district. “An inquiry is on and action will be taken against those found guilty”, an official of the Kendrapara district administration said.

Minati Mallick, a resident of Maliancha village under Mahakalpada police station limits in Kendrapara district, was admitted to hospital in Kendrapara town on April 21 to deliver her child.

When the labour pain intensified she was immediately rushed to the labour room of the health facility by the medical staff. She gave birth to a baby boy after doctors conducted a minor surgery on her body.

Subsequently, on the advice of the surgeons, she returned home along with her newborn child.

However, after reaching the village, she complained of severe pain in her abdomen and vagina. Worried family members rushed her to a government sub-divisional level community health centre (CHC) near the village where the gauze pad was detected inside her vagina during a thorough investigation which included an X-ray of her entire body.

She was relieved of her pain after the doctors at the CHC conducted an operation and removed the foreign material from her body.