17-year-old Chennai football player who lost her leg due to negligence by doctors is dead
CHENNAI: It was meant to be a safe, ordinary and minimally invasive surgical procedure to fix a ligament tear, but medical negligence turned it into a life-altering amputation, a poignant battle with death, and, finally, a tragic demise – all in rapid succession.
It ended on Tuesday at 7.15am at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) in Chennai, with the death of R Priya, 17, a football player.
The immediate cause of death was organ failure, doctors said. On November 7, Priya was admitted to Periyar Nagar Government Peripheral Hospital for an arthroscopy, a minimally invasive surgical procedure. The problem was a ligament tear on her right knee.
Doctors at RGGGH recommended an arthroscopy but since her home was near Periyar Nagar Government Peripheral Hospital, her family decided to send her there, her coach Joel Joshua said.
But things went wrong soon after the surgery. “Due to carelessness of the doctors who performed the surgery, the compression bandage was too tight which caused extensive damage to blood flow and led to the death of blood vessels,” said a statement issued by the health department. On November 8, Priya was shifted to the RGGGH on the advice of Periyar Nagar Government Peripheral Hospital. There doctors said that her leg had to be amputated to save her life. On November 9, she underwent the amputation. But Priya did not recover.
“She was suffering from damage to her kidney, liver and heart because of her blood flow being affected,” the statement said. One by one her organs failed.
CHENNAI: It was meant to be a safe, ordinary and minimally invasive surgical procedure to fix a ligament tear, but medical negligence turned it into a life-altering amputation, a poignant battle with death, and, finally, a tragic demise – all in rapid succession.
It ended on Tuesday at 7.15am at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) in Chennai, with the death of R Priya, 17, a football player and first year student of B.SC (Physical Education).
The immediate cause of death was organ failure, doctors said. On November 7, Priya was admitted to Periyar Nagar Government Peripheral Hospital for an arthroscopy, a minimally invasive surgical procedure. The problem was a ligament tear on her right knee. It was a knee that had given the young footballer – she played at the national level – trouble previously. She had suffered a ligament tear in the same place a year ago. This time, doctors at RGGGH recommended an arthroscopy but since her home was near Periyar Nagar Government Peripheral Hospital, her family decided to send her for the surgery there, her coach Joel Joshua said.
Arthroscopy is a procedure wherein a surgeon uses pencilthin surgical instruments to make small incisions to diagnose and treat a variety of joint conditions. It is considered safe and is common in sports medicine.
“In a case like this, one in a million may lose a limb but to lose life is definitely the worst-case scenario, orthopedic surgeon Dr A N Vivek said. “As a surgeon who has performed arthroscopy, I can say that the outcome is generally good,” he added. But things went wrong soon after the surgery. “Due to carelessness of the doctors who performed the surgery, the compression bandage was too tight which caused extensive damage to blood flow and led to the death of blood vessels,” a statement issued by the state health department said on Tuesday.
Priya was in unbearable pain. On November 8, she was shifted to RGGGH on the advice of Periyar Nagar Government Peripheral Hospital. The doctors there said her leg had to be amputated.
On November 9, she underwent the amputation and her right leg was removed at the point from above her knee.
By then, her story had made the news. On November 13, following the furore, Tamil Nadu health minister M Subramanian visited her. They promised that a robotic prosthetic limb would be fitted onto her. On November 14, the state government transferred the two surgeons – Dr A Paul Ram Sankar, assistant professor, Orthopedics and Dr K Somasundar, casualty medical officer of Periyar Nagar Government Periphery Hospital. But Priya did not recover.
“She was suffering from damage to her kidney, liver and heart because of her blood flow being affected,” the statement said. “An inquiry has found negligence on the doctors who performed the surgery.” The government suspended the two surgeons. “Based on the preliminary post mortem report, the police will initiate criminal proceedings,” said Dr Therani Rajan, dean, Madras Medical College and RGGGH.
There was heavy police deployment in the hospital as Priya’s family protested demanding immediate action against the doctors. “My child was only 17 years old. We trusted a government hospital and she is dead today,” said Priya’s mother. Health minister M Subramanian admitted that there was “medical negligence”. “When I came here the day before, she was fine. The child’s death has pained all of us.” The Tamil Nadu government has offered ₹10 lakh as solatium and a government job for one of her three brothers.