Irreparable loss: Mechanic loses arm to doctors’ negligence

27-year-old’s arm amputated due to infection months after doctors left a blade inside .

RAWALPINDI:

It was the doctors’ dishonesty to their profession, or their ineligibility thereof, which has caused irreparable loss and endless pain to Nasir Hussain.

Hussain, 27, a resident of Kallar Syedan, lost his limb a month ago at the hands of doctors at the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH), Rawalpindi.

During surgery on his left arm a year ago, the doctors left a blade inside Hussain’s arm. A mechanic by profession, Hussain suffered burn injures over his arm while working at his welding shop. He was brought to BBH, where he says doctors Nadir, Asifa and Hanif operated on him on January 3, 2015. Hussain was admitted for over 28 days at the hospital.

The mechanic’s suffering began around six months after the surgery, as the blade left inside his arm began to cause a major infection. “My left arm turned three times its size due to the infection,” Hussain shared with the Daily Express.

He explained that due to his illness, he had to close his shop, the only source of income he had for his elderly mother. He said he has no siblings, and that his father had died some years ago. When he was left with no money, Hussain and his mother approached a social welfare hospital in Rawalpindi. Doctors at the welfare hospital had to resort to amputating his arm to save his life. “It was too late to cure the infection,” Hussain said, sharing his painful ordeal.

Hussain says he is the sole provider for his family, and the loss of his arm has left him financially dependent.

He said that after his operation, he had made several visits to BBH, but that no prescription or diagnosis had cured his infection. The only option left with him was charity hospital in Rawalpindi, where doctors cut his limb from the shoulder.

Dr Asifa, a member of the surgery team who ‘operated’ on Hussain, said she deals with many patients on a daily basis. She said she could not say whether she was part of the team that operated on Hussain without examining his medical treatment reports. BBH Medical Superintendent Dr Asif Qadir Mir said he has ordered a probe into the case, and has assured that those responsible with be held to account.

Translated by: Shazia Mehboob

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2016.