Anaesthesia blunder: Woman in coma for 9 yrs
Saeed.Khan@timesgroup.com
Ahmedabad:27.12.2018
Shraddha Shah was nursing dreams of motherhood when she was wheeled into the operation theatre for a caesarean section in 2009. She came out in a comatose state, never able to nurse her son and caress her elder daughter.
Nine years later, the Odhav resident lies confined in bed, paralyzed. Never able to come out of the anaesthesia dose, Shraddha’s crippled limbs twist out of exhaustion as her brother feeds her. Her incomprehensible blabber can only be decoded by her caretakers. Gujarat state consumer dispute redressal commission on December 19 acknowledged this life interrupted and fined gynaecologist Dr Nilesh Trivedi and anaesthetist Dr Himanshu Patel ₹32 lakh for their “negligence” and “commercialization of profession” due to which Shraddha became a cripple after incomplete reversal from anaesthesia administered during surgery during child birth.
Shraddha, now 41, has been in a vegetative condition since the surgery. Her brother Kalpesh Shah and mother take care of her while her children live with their father in Mumbai. Shraddha had consulted Dr Trivedi when she was pregnant with her second child in November 2009. The doctor advised a caesarean section and performed the surgery. A baby boy was born, but she never came out of the anaesthesia effect. The incomplete reversal from anaesthesia damaged her brain and she also suffered a cardiac arrest. She was rushed to other hospitals as Dr Trivedi’s hospital lacked intensive care facilities.
When doctors in Ahmedabad and Mumbai concluded that Shraddha, then only 32 years of age, would never recover and remain paralyzed for the rest of her life, an anguished family sued both doctors for deficiency in service. The doctors denied any negligence and deficiency in service, but the court questioned why they decided to perform C-section surgery and the anaesthetist had to administer general anaesthesia after first trying to administer spinal anaesthesia.
“No modern techniques were applied, even ventilator facility was not available… Both doctors failed to take reasonable care and caution before and after the operation. They failed to take effective steps to see that the patient comes back to consciousness after anaesthesia. Oxygen levels were also not properly monitored,” the court observed.
Shraddha, now 41, has been in a vegetative condition since the surgery. Her brother Kalpesh Shah and mother take care of her while her children live with their father in Mumbai
Saeed.Khan@timesgroup.com
Ahmedabad:27.12.2018
Shraddha Shah was nursing dreams of motherhood when she was wheeled into the operation theatre for a caesarean section in 2009. She came out in a comatose state, never able to nurse her son and caress her elder daughter.
Nine years later, the Odhav resident lies confined in bed, paralyzed. Never able to come out of the anaesthesia dose, Shraddha’s crippled limbs twist out of exhaustion as her brother feeds her. Her incomprehensible blabber can only be decoded by her caretakers. Gujarat state consumer dispute redressal commission on December 19 acknowledged this life interrupted and fined gynaecologist Dr Nilesh Trivedi and anaesthetist Dr Himanshu Patel ₹32 lakh for their “negligence” and “commercialization of profession” due to which Shraddha became a cripple after incomplete reversal from anaesthesia administered during surgery during child birth.
Shraddha, now 41, has been in a vegetative condition since the surgery. Her brother Kalpesh Shah and mother take care of her while her children live with their father in Mumbai. Shraddha had consulted Dr Trivedi when she was pregnant with her second child in November 2009. The doctor advised a caesarean section and performed the surgery. A baby boy was born, but she never came out of the anaesthesia effect. The incomplete reversal from anaesthesia damaged her brain and she also suffered a cardiac arrest. She was rushed to other hospitals as Dr Trivedi’s hospital lacked intensive care facilities.
When doctors in Ahmedabad and Mumbai concluded that Shraddha, then only 32 years of age, would never recover and remain paralyzed for the rest of her life, an anguished family sued both doctors for deficiency in service. The doctors denied any negligence and deficiency in service, but the court questioned why they decided to perform C-section surgery and the anaesthetist had to administer general anaesthesia after first trying to administer spinal anaesthesia.
“No modern techniques were applied, even ventilator facility was not available… Both doctors failed to take reasonable care and caution before and after the operation. They failed to take effective steps to see that the patient comes back to consciousness after anaesthesia. Oxygen levels were also not properly monitored,” the court observed.
Shraddha, now 41, has been in a vegetative condition since the surgery. Her brother Kalpesh Shah and mother take care of her while her children live with their father in Mumbai
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