Probe ordered into alleged medical lapse at hospital

The Kerala State Human Rights Commission has ordered an inquiry by an officer not below the rank of a deputy superintendent of police into an alleged case of medical negligence at KMCT Medical College Hospital at Mukkom in Kozhikode.

A release said on Wednesday that the order was issued to the District Superintendent of Police, Kozhikode, and the superintendent of KMCT Medical College too had been asked to submit an explanation. The doctor accused of committing medical negligence would have to give his version of the incident. All these reports should be submitted in three weeks, commission judicial member P. Mohanadas said.

In a complaint, P.R. Murali, a native of Valanchery in Malappuram district, said he had approached the hospital to remove a metal road which had been fixed to his body after an accident in 2008. However, one of the 12 screws fixed to the body was reportedly not removed in the surgery. Though the screw was subsequently removed in another surgery the next day, another wound was found in his thigh. A metal plate was fixed there. However, there was no end to his pain and another surgery was performed. Mr. Murali, a workshop mechanic, is now unable to walk. He suffered heavy losses during the floods last time after his house was damaged. Mr. Murali has now sought compensation from the hospital for the lapse.