Hosp accused of kidney theft denies foul play

Nagpur: Misconception and miscommunication reigned supreme when the family of a deceased accused doctors of a Dhantoli-based private hospital of

kidney theft

.

A complaint was also lodged with the police on Tuesday. The body was taken into custody. However, as per the post mortem reports that came late on Tuesday evening, the allegations have tuned out to be false.

Saoner resident Hukumchand Chokiker (51), a former belt operator of Western Coalfields Limited mines, passed away on September 3. Tillotama, Hukumchand’s widow, said her husband was operated in the brain but she observed 16 stitches on the left side of his stomach. “The hospital authorities used to update regarding every development and deterioration of health of my husband until he was declared dead at 2.40pm on August 3 (Sunday),” she said.

According to the post mortem report, the kidney of the deceased was intact while the flap bone was found preserved on the left side of lower abdomen under the stitches.

Tilottama said the stitches had come to her notice at home while applying ghee on the body to soften the skin before taking it for funeral at Waghoda Mokshadham ghat in Saoner,” she said.

“I decided to approach Saoner police regarding the unexplained stitches on my husband’s body. We suspect his internal organs including kidneys may have been removed. Police had intervened to stop the funeral after my complaint,” she said.

Tension prevailed at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) where the post mortem was being conducted and at the hospital where Chokiker passed away.

Chokiker arrived at the hospital in a paralytic state on September 1. Director of the Dhantoli-based hospital said, “There was a swelling on the left side of his brain. Within six hours, we had to perform a surgery called decompressive craniotomy. A part of the skull called bone flap was removed to create room and allow the swelling to expand without being squeezed.”

“We had created an incision on the left side of the abdomen and preserved the bone flap in it. It’s a routine procedure after such a surgery. The bone could be stored in the abdomen skin pocket for as long as three months without decomposing and after the patient recovers, it can be reattached to the skull,” he said.

“After performing the surgery, when the patient gets a discharge, we usually inform the relatives that a bone is being restored in his abdomen. But in this case, the patient had died at the hospital. We forgot to inform the relatives about the preserved bone in the body,” he added.

After the surgery, Chokiker was on post-operative ventilator, and his condition was deteriorating. 24 hours after the surgery, the MRI had shown that majority of the brain was damaged. “We informed the relatives that there was no hope. There was no discussion about the kidney,” the doctor added.


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