By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The 55-year-old woman, who was admitted in NEIGRIHMS but could not be operated upon due to the ongoing imbroglio in the institute, passed away on Friday night.
Sources informed that the patient hailing from Mawphlang passed away on late Friday night and her relatives have already taken away her body for the last rites.
The woman was admitted on May 5 following a heart attack and was posted for surgery on May 6 but due to the stalemate in the institute, the surgery could not be done as per schedule.
As the days passed, her condition deteriorated and on Friday she was put on life support system.
It was informed that the lady needed a stent earlier but later she required an Impella, which is a device used for temporary ventricular support in people with depressed heart function and costs around Rs 20 -25 lakh and not readily available.
Meanwhile, sources also informed that many of the materials required for conducting major operations in the institute were still not available
Attempts were made to contact the hospital administration and calls were made to the PRO of the institute for his comments but he did not respond.
The High Court of Meghalaya on Wednesday had directed the Director as well as the Head of Department, Cardiology of NEIGRIHMS to ensure that surgeries are carried out from Thursday as per schedule and patient care does not suffer.
Hearing a matter in connection with a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by an advocate on Tuesday for resolution of the stalemate that led to cancellation of surgeries in the department, a division bench of Chief Justice Md Yaqoob Mir and Justice HS Thangkhiew directed the Medical Superintendent to hold a meeting with the Cardiology Department on Wednesday itself and immediately work out a solution so that surgeries could be performed from Thursday.
The court took up the matter while taking serious note of the situation which had given rise to postponement of about 34 surgeries
in the Cardiology department in view of the differences between it and the NEIGRIHMS administration.
Both Director Dr D M Thappa as well HoD Cardiology Dr Animesh Mishra appeared before the court on Wednesday to make their respective stances clear.
The court said that from their submissions, it appeared that there was some trust deficit, as a result whereof important surgical materials required to be utilised in the surgeries had not been made available for varied reasons.
Dr Thappa made it clear that he was adhering to all advisories and formalities, and as a Director would ensure that all materials required by the Cardiology department was made available to them so that surgeries were not postponed.