Malpractice: Compensation demanded from ‘negligent doctor’

Towel removed from woman’s body a month after doctor left it inside during surgery.

MULTAN: Residents of Town 112-15L near Mian Channu have protested against a doctor who allegedly left a towel inside the abdomen of a woman after operating on her for a hernia.

Leading the protesters, Numberdar Azeem said Dr Nasir Razzaq should return Rs60,000 he received from Manzoor Ahmed, the husband of the woman, for the surgery. He said the health department should improve regulation of doctors running private clinics. He added that the department should launch an operation against negligent doctors.

Azeem said they went to the Saddar police station but the police refused to lodge their complaint.

He said the police told them that they could not take action against the doctor. “They said the matter concerned the Health Department,” he said.

Dr Nasir Razzaq had operated on the woman a month ago for a hernia and allegedly left the towel inside. The towel was removed on Monday by another doctor of the area, Dr Bilal Rabani.

Dr Rabbani said had the towel not been removed, it could have infected her intestines. He said that the woman was wrongly diagnosed with hernia. He said she only had a minor infection in the stomach and did not need an operation. He said she would need some days to recover from the weakness caused due to two back-to-back operations.

Dr Nasir Razzaq was contacted but he refused comment.

Manzoor Ahmed, the husband, said his wife felt a severe pain in her abdomen a month ago.

He said he took her to the clinic of Dr Razzaq who said she had a grown hernia and should be operated upon immediately.

Ahmed said his wife was discharged a day after the operation. “The doctor said her operation was successful and you could take her home,” he said.

He said she kept suffering from severe pain even after the operation. “I took her to the same doctor again. He gave her some painkillers and sent us back,” Ahmed said. He said she kept taking the medicine for about a week but the pain did not disappear.

After nearly a month, Ahmed said, he took her to Dr Bilal Rabbani on the recommendation of his neighbours. He said Dr Rabbani carried out an ultrasound and found out that the doctor had forgotten to remove the cleaning towel from inside the abdomen.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2011.