Editor.
Nazareth hospital has been in the news in the last few days following the unfortunate death of Mr. Sannjay Sharma on the 12th of May 2012. At the outset the Administration on behalf of the Hospital & its Staff offers its sincerest & profound condolences to Late Sannjay Sharma’s surviving family.
Many allegations have been made against the Hospital over the past few days. The Administrator wishes to make its position known regarding this issue.
1 It was alleged that the Administrator had said “this procedure should not have been carried out in my absence”. The Administrator strongly denies having made this statement and secondly, would it be humanly possible for the Administrator to be present for each & every operative procedure that is carried out. The entire hospital functioning would come to a stand still every time the Administrator is not present & this would occur practically every second or third day. The Administrator said that it was unfortunate that the incident had occurred in her absence.
2 It was reported that the Chief Medical Officer was not in the know about this particular case.
Any of the surgeons operating in the hospital who require advice consult the CMO, but if they are confident they need not necessarily have to consult him. In this particular instance, Dr. Veerabadran had a specialized degree for which he was qualified to conduct the surgery and since he was confident and had the permission of the Administrator, he did not have to consult the CMO. However the CMO was informed of complications that occurred during the post-operative period and he was ready to assist in any way.
The operating Surgeon Dr. Veerabadran had already established his credentials by operating on poor patients under the SMILE Project in 2010 in Nazareth Hospital. This project is meant for the correction of facial deformities. There was no reason for the Administration to doubt his abilities, as all these procedures, including Liposuction came under the ambit of Plastic Surgery.
3 It was reported that the hospital did not have the necessary equipments and infra-structure for post-operative complications.
The hospital has a very well equipped ICU and is headed by a very capable Intensivist. Our ICU has in the past managed complicated cases of various kinds and continues to do so. Our ICU receives referrals from all hospitals in Shillong and the adjoining Districts.
It must however be understood that no matter how good an ICU or an Intensivist is, mortalities have and will continue to occur.
4 Dr. Henry Nongrum’s conduct was questioned as he had visited Mr. Sharma’s residence on two occasions prior to the operation and that he had taken Mr. Sharma’s measurements for the “Pressure suit”.
The fact of the matter is that Dr. Nongrum had indeed visited Mr. Sharma’s residence thrice, not twice. On the first two occasions he was accompanied by a fellow colleague and the visit was regarding designing of brochures for a different occasion. It had nothing to do with the Lipo-suction. This visit was also witnessed by Mr. Sharma’s fiancée and by some other friends who were also present.
The third visit was along with Dr. Veerabadran. This visit was on the 7th of May which happened to be Dr. Nongrum’s son’s birthday. Dr. Nongrum therefore expressed to Mr. Sharma as well as Dr. Veerabadran his inability to meet Mr. Sharma but due to the repeated requests, Dr. Nongrum accompanied Dr. Veerabadran to Mr. Sharma’s residence. At no point did Dr. Nongrum take Mr. Sharma’s measurements for the ‘pressure suit’. The measurements were taken by Dr. Veerabadran and Mr. Sharma’s fiancée was also in the residence at that time.
5 It was reported that Dr. Veerabadran & Dr. Nongrum visited Mr. Sharma to “lure” him for the operation. Actually both doctors visited his residence as Mr. Sharma had requested them to do so as clarified above. Dr. Nongrum was a good friend of Mr. Sharma and he did not try to “lure” Mr. Sharma.
Mr. Sharma had voluntarily made inquiries about the lipo-suction surgery from Dr. Nongrum and whether Dr. Nongrum knew any plastic surgeon who performed lipo-suction. Dr. Nongrum suggested the name of Dr. Veerabadran who was associated with the Hospital.
6 It was reported that the “Pressure suit” was not used during surgery & that crepe bandage was used as a make shift arrangement.
Firstly the suit cannot be used during the surgery or even immediately post surgery. It is meant to be used 48-72 hrs after the soakage has decreased or stopped. In the meantime Dynaplast and NOT “crepe bandage” as alleged was used.
7 It was reported that Dr. Nongrum had been paid a sum of Rs. 50,000 as an “auspicious gesture.” This is factually incorrect & extremely damaging to his reputation. The hospital has in its possession the receipt for the amount received by Dr. Veerabadran.
8 It was reported that Dr. Veerabadran had told Dr. Nongrum “that it would be better to have the operation at Chennai instead of at Nazareth Hospital”.
In truth, Mr. Sharma was clearly told that Dr. Veerabadran would be available till the morning following his surgery. At no time did Dr. Veerabadran make the alleged statement to Dr. Nongrum.
9 It was reported that there were anomalies in the bills presented to the family members. Firstly as we do not have a Plastic Surgery department and because Dr. Nongrum assisted Dr. Veerabadran, all the bills were categorized under ENT. This was simply for convenience and nothing else. Secondly there was nothing “shocking” about the time difference of the bills presented to the family. The first set of bills was for the medication ordered in the morning. After Mr. Sharma’s unfortunate demise, the medication which was unused was returned to the Pharmacy and the amount was refunded to the family with the final bill of whatever medicine was used, all other previous bills are at this point considered invalid. Therefore the time stamps are bound to be different.
10 It was reported that Dr. Nongrum wanted to keep Mr. Sharma in the ICU for observation and that he said that once the problems were resolved he would be shifted back to his room. The patient was shifted to the ICU because his blood pressure had come down and there appeared to be reduced urine output. As the day progressed however, his BP normalized but he had other medical complications which eventually led to his demise.
11 It was reported that Dr. Veerabadran had performed 8-10 liposuctions for the last 10 years. In fact he performs 8-10 liposuctions per month and has done so for the past few years and has never encountered any fatal complication. This is the first time that such an unfortunate incident has happened.
Finally, Nazareth Hospital is a reputed mission Hospital that has been serving the public in general & the poor in particular for the past 53 years. In all these years, we have never been willfully associated with any malpractice for monetary gain and this has always been maintained by the Administration and indeed by all the medical staff themselves.
In the last financial year alone, this hospital has provided free care to the tune of Rs. 1,96,45,944/-. This is an audited amount. Our hospital never refuses treatment to any patient for financial reasons, whom so ever they may be. Our doctors are fully dedicated towards the care of patients regardless of official duty timings, expecting no financial benefits in return.
In conclusion, I would like to state that publishing unverified and factually incorrect statements in the press which contain allegations of monetary rackets and by a doctor and malpractice by the hospital are absolutely damaging.
We are open to inquiry by the Government of Meghalaya and if any illegality is found by them the Hospital will accept responsibility. We maintain that the Hospital has done nothing morally wrong and there was no intention to jeopardise Mr. Sharma’s life.
We request newspapers not to unnecessarily sensationalise this issue with the aid of incorrect information. This is a very sensitive and difficult time for the family members as well as for the Hospital. We have each day since the incident been praying for the departed soul as well as his family members and seek forgiveness for any inadequacy on our part.
Yours etc.,
Sr. Mary Paul,
Administrator,
Nazareth Hospital