Kollam: The Additional Sessions Court here on Wednesday awarded one-year jail term to three doctors and three nurses for medical negligence leading to the death of a woman during surgery.
Ms Mini Philip, 37, wife of Philip Thomas, underwent laparoscopic sterilization surgery at Deen Hospital, Punalur in Kollam, and was shifted to a hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, where she died in September 2006. Those sentenced are anesthetist Balachandran, 62, Changanacherry, gynecologist Laila Ashokan, 58, wife of Dr Ashokan, Punalur, and surgeon Vinu Balakrishnan, 49, Kumarapuram, Thiruvananthapuram and nurses Anila Kumari, 35, Syamala Devi, 54, and Sujatha Kumari, 39—all then employed with Deen Hospital.
The court allowed the convicts time to go in appeal.“Ms Mini Philip, who had been in Dubai with her family, was admitted for the sterilization procedure at the Punalur hospital on September 25, 2006.
The surgery was carried out without proper tests, after which she became unconscious. She was later shifted to a nearby private hospital and then to Ananthapuri Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, where she died,” said public prosecutor Albert P Netto. The Punalur police, who probed the case, had sought the help of medical boards, who recorded doctors’ statements, with substantiating evidences from the treatment records.
On hearing the verdict, Dr Laila Ashokan cried aloud, saying she was not at fault. Her colleagues tried to pacify her.
