Apollo Hospitals’ Director of Critical Care Medicine N. Ramakrishnan on Monday told the Commission of Inquiry looking into Jayalalithaa’s death that a US-based cardiologist invited by V.K. Sasikala had recommended a coronary angiogram for the former Chief Minister.
Test not undertaken
Dr. Ramakrishnan told the Justice (Retd.) A. Arumughaswamy Commission that Dr. Samin K. Sharma, who examined Jayalalithaa on November 25, 2016, proposed to do the test the same day. Dr. Sharma is a professor of cardiology at the Mount Sinai Hospital in the United States.
According to a source, Dr. Ramakrishnan said the test was not undertaken after consulting, among others, London-based intensivist Dr. Richard Beale.
The senior consultant at Apollo said that doctors had analysed the risk-benefit ratio of doing the test and had come to the conclusion that the risks to Jayalalithaa outweighed the benefits.
Another source said that in an earlier testimony, Apollo’s respiratory medicine specialist Babu K. Abraham had told the Commission that Dr. Sharma had talked to the Chief Minister twice the night of November 25 to discuss the options before her doctors.
Not ‘emergent’
According to Dr. Ramakrishnan, Dr. Beale’s suggestion was that the situation was not “emergent” and he recommended a planned angiogram when the CM became stable.
This incident also finds a mention in Jayalalithaa’s treatment summary, released by Apollo Hospitals. “In view of patient’s elevated urea level and pulmonary status (recent VAP and ARDS), the consensus decision was that further coronary evaluation could be planned electively at a later date,” says the relevant section.
Sasikala’s lawyer N. Raja Senthoor Pandian said Dr. Sharma’s presence was proof that his client had done her best for Jayalalithaa’s well-being. “This will prove the sincere efforts taken by Sasikala to exhaust all options to recoup the health of Jayalalithaa,” he said. On Monday, the Commission examined Dr. Ramakrishnan.
He said that Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) — also mentioned in the CM's death certificate — as the cause of death.
