52-yr-old woman dies in hospital, family alleges negligence by Max
Gurugram: A 52-year-old woman who was admitted at Max hospital in Gurugram died in the early hours of Tuesday during the course of her treatment. Her family alleged that the main cause of her death was the infection she had contracted due to the negligence of the hospital authorities. They also complained that the hospital management has overcharged them and increased the costs of medical treatment deliberately.
The deceased who was identified as Neelam belonged to Ranchi, Jharkhand, and was a heart patient. She was admitted to the hospital three weeks ago. According to the bereaved family, at around 12:30 am they received information that the condition of the patient had deteriorated and around 1 am it was reported that she succumbed to her illness.
Immediately after her death, the angry family members blamed the hospital authorities for not following due procedures which resulted in the demise of Neelam who was admitted to ICU contracting infection and eventually succumbing to her illness. The family has not only lodged any complaint of medical negligence with the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and the Gurugram Police but has also tweeted to the Prime Minister apprising of the situation and demanding justice. The hospital in its defence also issued an official statement. "The 52-year-old female patient who was a known case of rheumatic heart disease with severe mitral valve disease, despite all possible care and efforts made by a multidisciplinary team of senior clinicians, succumbed to multiple organ failure on Tuesday at Max Hospital, Gurugram. We empathise with the family and extend our condolences for their loss," read the official statement.
In maintaining that the communication with the patient's family was done in the fair and transparent manner, the statement further read, "The patient had previously undergone an open heart surgery at a reputed government hospital in 1996. She had come with a condition of severe breathlessness on June 5. Investigations revealed that she also had chronic liver disease as a consequence of a long standing condition of heart failure."
"The patient underwent a high risk cardiac surgery on June 9 after multiple tests and detailed counselling on the high risk factors and due consent. The patient remained critical post operation, on ventilator support and dialysis intermittently. The family was briefed on her critical condition on a daily basis. Repeated tests (culture) done during her 3-week stay, did not show any evidence of significant bacterial infection. We closely monitor hospital acquired infections and our rates are at par with the best of the benchmarks in the world," it further added.
