A writ petition has been filed in the Madras High Court Bench here seeking a direction to the State government to pay compensation to a woman laboratory technician who is in coma since March 3 owing to alleged medical negligence of doctors at Kuzhithurai Government Taluk Hospital in Valavankodu taluk in Kanyakumari district.
When the matter came up before Justice R. Subbiah on Friday, he directed a government counsel to obtain instructions from the Health Department officials and adjourned the hearing till Tuesday. The petitioner, S. Subramaniyam (39), husband of the technician, Sita Lakshmi, also sought departmental action against the doctors concerned.
During arguments, petitioner’s counsel R. Alagumani said the woman was admitted to the hospital on February 25 for conducting a surgery on her neck for removing a thyroid nodule, lumps formed due to abnormal growth of thyroid tissues.
The surgery was performed on March 3 under the Chief Minister’s Insurance Scheme.
However, the woman went into coma during the surgery and doctors attributed it to breakdown of ventilator facility, he claimed.
In his affidavit, the petitioner said that on the advice of the doctors, he bought ice bars from a fish merchant at around 11.45 p.m. on the day of surgery. The bars were crushed, filled in bottles and placed close to the patient’s body.
Since there was no progress for about two days, the petitioner shifted his wife to Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College Hospital on March 5 and to the Asaripallam Government Medical College Hospital in Nagercoil on April 17.
“But, till date, my wife continues to be in coma condition without any recovery and my two children are suffering without their beloved mother,” he added.
