NIMS wasted precious early hours, says Ramya's family

Hyderabad: P. Ramya’s relatives have alleged that negligence on the part of Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences led to her death. The little girl’s life could have been saved if NIMS doctors had acted on time, they said. Demanding action against NIMS, they alleged that the doctors did not diagnose her condition for over four hours and only gave her first aid. Finally, they had to shift her at night to Care Hospital for proper treatment, the relatives said.

“They were treating her as if she had fallen from a bicycle. For four hours, they did not scan her or diagnose her condition. They said their equipment had been shifted to the new building and it could not be done in the emergency ward. After waiting for hours, we had to shift her to Care Hospital, where the scan was done quickly and she was put on ventilator,” said Ramya’s uncle M. Ravi Krishna.

Relatives said that till 8 pm no proper treatment was given. “She was admitted at NIMS before 4.30 pm. They gave first aid and nothing more. She was conscious for two hours and with no proper medical aid from NIMS, she became unconscious,” said Mr C. Murali Krishna, another uncle of Ramya’s, who was in NIMS.

“When we insisted on starting treatment and tests, they were responding to it casually, that they couldn’t operate the scanning machine. They said they were observing the conditions of the patient, without doing any treatment,” Mr Murali Krishna added.

When they took Ramya to Care Hospital, the doctors there instantly took her for a CT scan and started treatment. “If she had got that kind of treatment soon after the accident, she would have been alive,” he said.

The NIMS doctors denied the allegations. “There was no negligence. The family came with critical injuries and doctors were working to stabilise them. Only after stabilizing can treatment options be looked into,” said Dr K. Manohar of the hospital.

Neurologists treating Ramya at Care Hospital said that the minute he was brought in, she was put on ventilator and her grandmother was counselled that her chances of survival were 10 per cent. Ramya’s reflexes were absent from July 4 but the doctors continued with the treatment as her parents were hopeful.

A Care Hospital senior doctor said, “She had suffered multiple injuries and a fracture of the pel-vic bone. The shock had made her comatose and she was not responding. Her condition deteriorated in the last five days.”

Grandma spent 8 days beside Ramya
P. Ramya’s grandmother Laxmi Chary spent eight days in the hospital beside the child. Whenever doctors came to talk about her condition, she would only ask them when she could take the child home.

Her sister Sujatha said, “Ramya’s birthday was on August 8. Her grandparents were to go to the US and had shopped for her birthday in advance. The family had purchased clothes and toys for her and the grandparents had planned a surprise. Relatives said this was given to Ms Radhika to be given to the child on her birthday.

The condition of Madhusudhan Chari, Ramya’s grandfather, is now critical, said doctors who have been treating him from July 2. He has a broken spinal cord and multiple injuries. A senior doctor on condition of anonymity explained, “We are trying our level best.” An uncle of Ramya, Ramesh Pami, suffered a leg fracture in the crash but is safe.