Our CorrespondentLudhiana, June 22
Mr Tripan Krishan Vij, a resident of Jammu, has charged doctors of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital with negligence. His wife Neelu Vij was operated upon in the hospital for removal of stones in bile duct and gall bladder after a complication in the endoscopic procedure (ERCP) to crush the stones. He charged the doctors with forcing the surgical procedure upon the patient that led to a huge expenditure, which could have been avoided
However, the doctors at the DMCH have refuted the allegations, claiming that the surgery (for removal of stones and the gall bladder) was, in any case, due and it had to be hastened as the wires broke down during the ERCP and were then left inside the gastro-intestinal tract.
Addressing a news conference here today, Mr Vij said that his wife Neelu Vij was referred to the DMCH here for ERCP, which was performed by Dr Ajit Sood on June 9. During the procedure, three wires of the instrument broke down inside the bile duct and he (Mr Vij) was told that open surgery would have to be performed immediately. Same afternoon his wife was operated upon and broken wires, as well as stones and gall bladder were removed, which were also shown to him and later on sent for biopsy.
During the post-operative care he had to incur an expenditure of about Rs 35,000 on medicines alone while the hospital bill was more than Rs 20,000, Mr Vij added.
“Since I did not have that much money with me at that time, I approached the Medical Superintendent, Dr Rajoo Singh and the principal of DMCH, Dr Daljit Singh, who granted concession of Rs 10,000 in the hospital bill along with remitting ERCP charges of Rs 5340 and sarai charges of Rs 2250.”
Mr Vij, however, said that he had brought his wife to the DMCH for ERCP test, which could not be performed successfully and the patient, as well as other family members, including him, were not mentally or otherwise prepared for surgery, which was forced upon them. In the intervening period, he claimed to have suffered a huge loss of business also.
Dr Ajit Sood, when contacted, told Ludhiana Tribune that the patient when brought to the hospital was suffering from severe jaundice with her bilirubin level at 21.87. Breaking of wires during the ERCP was though rare but not unheard off. In this particular case, the wires had broken because the size of stones in the bile duct was exceptionally large and in any case, surgery had to be performed sooner or later to remove stones and the gall bladder. He denied that there was any lapse on the part of the attending doctors, while maintaining that they had acted in the best interest of the patient.
He further asserted that the hospital had also taken a humanitarian view of the hardship of the patient and a large portion of the hospital bill was waived off. Dr Sood claimed that after the surgery, the patient, when discharged from the DMCH on June 17 the patient had shown marked improvement.
