Woman dies in hospital, doctor shifted

The Health Department on Monday ordered the transfer of a duty doctor at the Government Hospital in Pollachi following the death of a woman owing to post-pregnancy complications on Sunday.

Tense moments prevailed at the hospitals in Pollachi and Coimbatore as relatives of the victim gathered there on Sunday and Monday to stage a protest.

According to locals, K. Rajathi (20) of Chellappampalayam near Pollachi was undergoing regular check-ups for pregnancy at the Kanchampatti primary health centre. As she had high blood pressure, the doctors advised her to get admitted to the Government Hospital in Pollachi, which she died on Saturday morning.

After a medical check-up, the doctors recommended a Caesarean section immediately for Rajathi.

While the procedure was performed around 11 a.m. on Sunday, her parents Lakshmanaswamy and Valliammal claimed that Rajathi suffered excessive bleeding as there was no doctor on duty till 3 p.m.

When the doctors arrived, they immediately transferred her to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) where she was declared dead on arrival on Sunday night. This shocked her relatives who were preparing to stage a protest on the hospital premises.

Following this, Pollachi Sub-Collector Rashmi Sidharth Zagade, Pollachi MLA M.K. Muthukaruppannasamy, Pollachi Government Hospital Superintendent S. Kannan and Joint Director of Medical and Rural Services (in-charge) Radha held talks with the family members and representatives of various political parties on Monday.

After the talks, Ms. Zagade told reporters in Pollachi that the Health Department had recommended the immediate transfer of the duty doctor (Dr. Rajeswari). Further, a copy of the post-mortem, which was performed at the CMCH on Monday, would be provided to the family members.

Also, she said that a special team would be constituted shortly to investigate the incident.

“Caesarean section was performed on Rajathi around 11 a.m. on Sunday; she suffered excessive bleeding, but there was no doctor on duty till 3 p.m.’’