Jayalalithaa death: Treatment protocol must be probed, says doctor

CHENNAI: Extremely high blood sugar levels are known to cause several complications. However, the leaked details of the health condition of the popular Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa, seem to indicate there was a lot more to it than sugar levels. Her health condition when she was admitted to hospital on the night of September 22 has raised concerns among the medical fraternity, who are also a little puzzled about her treatment protocol. 

Her health status throws up several issues that merit immediate attention, asserts Dr V. Pugazhenthi of Doctors for Safe Environment, on Thursday. More serious than her multiple health issues, including a spiked sugar level, why and how these added to her worsening health, is what he wants to know. 

“The fact is doctors know that she is a diabetic and has an infection, but the key point is that they should have appropriately changed the dosage to control the high blood sugar level and properly followed it up. Certainly, there have been discrepancies right before her admission to Apollo Hospitals and the discrepancies in her blood pressure readings,” Dr Pugazhenthi who along with Dr Ramesh analysed here treatment, claims.

Jayalalithaa died at the age of 68 at Apollo Hospital on December 5, 2016, after she suffered a cardiac arrest following hospitalisation for about 74 days. For a leader of her stature, there is a strict protocol that ought to be followed. 

“Even the food that she eats should be tested by forensic experts before being served to her. The question is why did the blood sugar levels shoot up to 508 mgdl? Normally, the blood sugar level should be 80 to 110 during fasting and less than 140 for postprandial sugar. It is well known that Madam has been suffering from fever for the past few days (before admission) and most people suspect it’s because of UTI but there was an infection in the blood too. The issue is: there should have been ‘follow-up’ and appropriate dosages should have been initiated to control the blood sugar level and ensured that it did not cross 200 or 250 mgdl,” he adds.

Also, the initial BP reading by Apollo showed it on the lower side (140 \ 70) but the readings of AIIMS indicated a much higher level. There were discrepancies in the blood pressure readings too, Dr Pugazhenthi told this correspondent. The pulse-oxygen meter, to record the oxygen concentration, was not measured at her Poes Garden residence, he claims. 

The Doctors for Safe Environment has demanded that the state government publish the treatment protocol followed for late Jayalalithaa before and after admission to the hospital so that people could understand the truth. 

The cloak of secrecy surrounding her health during the hospitalisation and her death on December 5 had sparked allegations that she had not been given proper treatment and London-based specialist Richard Beale told reporters in Chennai that she had sepsis when she was brought into Apollo Hospital in September in a conscious state. The source of infection was unknown. Beale had said the AIADMK leader was given the best possible treatment and was even intermittently conscious for days during her prolonged hospitalisation.