THRISSUR: State Human Rights Commission member V K Beenakumari on Wednesday ordered the health department to pay Rs 3 lakh as compensation to a man who had to undergo multiple surgeries after a doctor at the Thrissur Government Medical College left forceps in his abdomen after surgery.
The incident happened on May 5, 2020. Kanimangalam native Joseph Paul was the patient. As per the complaint lodged by Joseph Paul, who is an autorickshaw driver, Dr Pauly Joseph and team conducted the surgery in the abdomen. After the first surgery, Joseph suffered discomfort and pain. Later another surgery was conducted to heal the pain, but it only worsened.
As his condition worsened, the relatives took him to a private hospital. During scanning, the private hospital staff identified forceps inside Joseph’s abdomen. Another surgery was performed on Joseph to take out the forceps. Though he contacted Dr Pauly Joseph to explain the issue, the surgeon behaved rudely to him. Thus Joseph decided to lodge a complaint with the human rights commission.
Based on the complaint, Dr Pauly Joseph was suspended from service for three months. Based on the complaint, human rights commission had constituted an expert committee headed by then medical college principal M A Andrews.
The report by the expert committee clearly indicated that it was medical negligence but it was a mistake on the part of nurses. The report even said that both the nurses who were in the surgery team were not present in the hospital at the time of probe. However, the report by city police commissioner had stated that it was medical negligence on the part of the surgery team led by Dr Pauly Joseph.
Meanwhile, Joseph Paul, the complainant said that he was happy that the human rights commission found the doctor guilty and it vindicated his stance.