Kochi: His search for justice perhaps reminisces one of Eachara Warrier, father of Emergency victim Rajan. Mattannur native K.A. Abootty, father of medico Shamna Tasneem who died at Ernakulam Government Medical College on July 18 after the administering of antibiotic Ceftriaxone injection, is a crestfallen man today with just 10 days left for the completion of six months into the death of his daughter.
All that has happened in these six months is that two doctors were suspended and later taken back into service while the detailed department inquiry and Crime Branch inquiry into her death are yet to be completed.
The detailed department inquiry is a non-starter while the preliminary departmental inquiry by the Joint DME Dr K Sreekumari had pointed to medical negligence in the case and Dr Liza John who conducted post-mortem on the medico’s body too said that there was medical negligence in the case.
“My fight for justice is to unravel truth. My daughter who walked into the medical college hospital with simple fever collapsed and died after the administering of an injection. As a layman whom should I blame? The duty doctor Dr Krishna Mohan says he was not aware such a patient was admitted to the ward. My daughter consulted her own medicine department head Dr Jilse George who prescribed the injection. There was no doctor present when the injection was given and there was a delay of 20 minutes in taking her from ward to ICU. No one bothered to check whether there was facility for emergency care at the ward.
I was crestfallen when I could understand that my daughter’s dead body was taken to Rajagiri Hospital by the people responsible at the medical college to escape blame. Another known fact is that there is disparity between nurses’ record and doctors’ record relating to my daughter. What do all these point to?” asked Mr Abootty in an interview with DC on Friday.
“The only solace at the moment for me is that the current Crime Branch investigation into the case is going in the right direction with Mr Yatish Chandra and DySp Mr K Sasidharan . I understand that Mr Yatish Chandra is being transferred as Kochi DCP and my request to the government is that his responsibility with the case should be retained with him till the investigation is over,” Mr Abootty said.
“In the past six months I have met Chief Minister twice and the Health Minister K K Shylaja who is from my own land several times and the officials including the Health Secretary and DGP. I have tremendous faith in judiciary and government. But I have been taken aback when some of the senior health officials do not pick phone when they find that I am persistent with my effort to get justice.
No one has said a sorry to me over the incident so far and no one has talked about compensation also. My first priority is to get justice and it is my decency that I haven’t asked for compensation so far,” said Abootty.
“It is one and a half months since the state level medical apex board met for the first time to look into the case of medical negligence in the case. I have been knocking on all doors to get the board meet after that including that of the Health Minister, Health Secretary and the Director of Health Services (DHS) who is the chairman of the board. But till today it has not met while the officials are playing hide and seek.
Is it the way to treat a father who has lost his daughter in the medical college where she studied? The Crime Branch also is placing their investigation largely on the recommendation of the medical board. The last assurance I got was that it will meet on Saturday. I am still hopeful. I am hopeful its recommendation will not be like that of the district level medical board.
But for the stand of Dr Liza John, the district medical board would have completely shattered my hopes to get justice in the case. The DMO even rejected my request to place doctors from medical college in the medical board and instead took people from the Ernakulam General Hospital whose loyalties were known,” said Abootty.
“My hopes are also on the six students of my daughter’s medical college who were witness to her death. I still believe that they will tell the truth before the magistrate also so that the bid to cover up the case won’t succeed,” Abootty said.
“My wife still rues the moment when she told her daughter on July 18 to consult the doctor at the medical college when Shamna, while speaking to her over phone, said that she has some temperature left in the body though she took medicine last night. Shamna’s mother sometimes weeps and says “I should not have told that to my daughter, lest she would be alive,” Abootty, with tears welling up in his eyes, said.
