Karnataka - Gulbarga   

Villager stages dharna seeking action against medical officer

Special Correspondent

Death of woman owing to post-operative complications triggers protest

SEEKING JUSTICE: Ravindra Biradar staging a protest along with his three children in front of the office of the District Health and Family Welfare Office in Gulbarga on Thursday.

GULBARGA: Ravindra Biradar, an agricultural labourer at Kamalanagar near Nimbarga village in Aland taluk, sat in a dharna with his three children, including a four-month-old baby, and members of the district unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) here on Thursday seeking action against a medical officer.

Mr. Biradar alleged that the medical officer performed tubectomy on his wife, Sarubai, 30, who died of post-operative complications at the Government General Hospital here on July 20.

Mr. Biradar came in a procession led by the State secretariat member of the CPI (M), Maruti Manpade, and other leaders to the office of the District Health and Family Welfare Officer and laid siege to the office for over an hour shouting slogans against the doctor and demanding action against him.

Mr. Biradar said his wife, who was admitted to the hospital for tubectomy on July 16, developed post-operative complications on July 18 and her condition deteriorated the next day with severe skin rashes. Despite her relatives pleading with the authorities to shift her to the Government General Hospital in Gulbarga, the authorities did not do so as there was no vehicle, he alleged.

Later, Sarubai was shifted in a jeep to the hospital in a serious condition on July 20. She failed to respond to treatment and died the same day, he said.

Mr. Manpade said the victim could have been saved if the hospital authorities had shifted her immediately to the Government General Hospital or any other private hospital after she developed post-operative complications.

Owing to the negligence of the medical officer concerned and the hospital staff, Sarubai could not be saved, he said.

The protesters demanded that the Government immediately dismiss the medical officer and book a criminal case against him. They also sought a compensation of Rs. 2 lakhs to the family of the victim.

The Government has already paid Rs. 10,000 as ex-gratia and Rs. 40,000 will be paid as compensation to the family of the victim at the earliest, officials of the Health Department said.

However, the protesters extracted an assurance from senior officials of the Gulbarga Zilla Panchayat that the doctor will be transferred immediately and an inquiry will be ordered to find out under what circumstances the victim died.

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