Medical negligence and sexual assaults expose serious lapses in Kerala's health sector

Despite loss of human lives and causing permanent disabilities to many, the state government has turned a blind eye.

Thiruvananthapuram: Botched surgeries, deaths due to alleged medical negligence, medical equipment shortage and even sexual assaults. Thus goes the issues plaguing the Kerala health sector over the last few years.

Despite loss of human lives and causing permanent disabilities to many, the state government often terms each incident as isolated ones. 

The latest victim of the alleged medical negligence is 48-year-old autorickshaw driver Venu from Kollam. Despite being hospitalised on October 31 with chest pain, Venu died on November 5 night at the Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital.

In an audio message sent by Venu to his friend from the hospital bed, he could be heard saying that he did not even get the treatment that a dog could have received.

The hospital authorities were justifying  the delay in subjecting Venu to angiogram citing medical reasons. "All treatment protocols were followed in the case," superintendent C G Jayachandran told the media.

The death of Venu, who leaves behind wife and two daughters, triggered strong protest.

Opposition leader  V D Satheesan said that the state health minister Veena George has no moral right to continue in view of the series of lapses in the state health sector claiming lives.

Living martyrs

Summayya, 26, from Thiruvananthapuram is now living with a surgical guide wire that got stuck near her heart as the doctor who performed a thyroid surgery at the government general hospital in Thiruvananthapuram in 2023 missed to remove it.

Nine-year-old Vinodini hailing from Palakkad district, lost her right hand owing to alleged medical lapses. Her hand was plastered at the Palakkad district government hospital on September 24 following a fracture. Though she later complained of pain, doctors allegedly ignored. Later her hand had to be amputated owing to infection.

Harshina, 32, from Kozhikode is living with a surgical forceps in her abdomen for five years following a c-section surgery at Kozhikode government medical college hospital in 2017.

It was later taken out in 2022. She is still continuing her fight for due compensation for the health issues and other hardships she and her family is still facing.

Health department sources said that even as serious medical negligences happen at private hospitals, the powerful private hospital lobbies manage to suppress those.

Recently a 31-year-old woman IT professional in Thiruvananthapuram lost her four fingers and five toes allegedly due to the complications caused by a liposuction surgery at a private clinic. But no action was taken against the clinic as medical board reports were in favour of the clinic.

Sexual assault cases

In 2023, a woman recovering from a thyroid surgery at the Kozhikode medical college hospital was sexually assaulted by a hospital staff in ICU. While the survivor is still fighting for justice, the hospital staff who faced action in connection with the incident were later reinstated to the same hospital.

During the pandemic time, an ambulance driver sexually assaulted a Covid-19 patient in the ambulance while being taken to hospital from home. The ambulance driver Noufal was recently sentenced to life term.

Infrastructure lapses

A 56-year-old woman died after a building at the Kottayam medical college hospital collapsed earlier this year. The deceased -- Bindu -- was the breadwinner of her financially weak family. 

The biggest testimony of the infrastructure lapses in the state health sector was the revelation of Dr Haris Chirakkal, head of the urology department of Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital.

He said that even emergency surgeries had to be postponed owing to shortage of medical equipment.