Disgusting – Sion hospital doctor punctures the wrong lung and leaves patient to die

On Tuesday Waman Zare a 65 year old man had lunch in the afternoon with his son at Mulund and then walked to a bus stop to catch a bus till Sion hospital, where he was supposed to undergo a minor procedure. Little did he know that it would be the last meal of his life. Zare had been hospitalized and treated for fever and stomach ailments at BMC's Veer Savarkar Hospital in Mulund before being referred to Sion Hospital. An X-ray at the Mulund hospital had shown accumulation of water in the lungs. So Zare took discharge and headed to Sion Hospital for draining the fluid. (Read: Medical negligence how to get justice)

The minor procedure apparently was conducted by a first-year resident doctor who just left mid-way of the procedure, leaving the rest of the procedure to a woman resident doctor. However, in the bizarre turn of events, Zare died with 15 minutes after the procedure was carried out.

What lead to this sudden death

An informal internal investigation has revealed that the doctor had punctured the left lung instead of the affected right, sending the patient into a cardiac shock. This made the doctor go into a panic attack and flee the operation theatre. The woman doctor who came to rescue wasn t of any help either. (Read: Medical negligence case: Do we know our rights and responsibilities as a patient?)

Who is suppose to take the responsibility

Authorities at Sion Hospital confirmed the incident, but no inquiry has been ordered yet. Acting dean Dr N D Moulick said it was a case of human error and not something attributable to stress or work pressure. The ward with 84 patients was being manned by only two resident doctors. Moreover, she admitted that the doctor, who had been suffering anxiety attacks, had not informed his department about his health condition. He is currently taking treatment and is on leave. Does that really answer the question why a precious life was lost?

The current scenario

An investigation is to be done to probe the possible cause of the death. However some other resident doctor complied that they handle over 100 doctors and deal with their relatives while no senior doctors are around to teach them the right way to handle stress and work pressure. About 10 days ago, a resident doctor from KEM Hospital had attempted suicide when he failed to cope with the work pressure. The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) has been demanding that their work duties be restricted to 48 hours per week. (Read: Medical negligence How to file a complaint)

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