Alleged medical malpractice claims woman’s life in Lahore

Her husband says doctors left surgical clamp inside his wife after she underwent a C-section

LAHORE: A young woman died at Lady Willingdon Hospital on Thursday because of the doctors’ alleged negligence.

Reportedly, 27-year-old Sadaf was brought to the facility around five days ago after she went into labour. According to Sadaf’s husband Abdul Qayyum, she gave birth to a baby girl after undergoing a C-section. He maintained that during this procedure, the doctors left a surgical clamp inside of his wife which caused her condition to rapidly deteriorate.



“They took her for another procedure to remove the surgical clamp. However, during the operation she started to bleed out.  They used 125 bottles of blood but were not able to save her,” he added.

The deceased’s family members staged a protest outside the medical facility, breaking windows and also going so far as to attack employees. The hospital administration called the police who quickly managed to get the situation under control. Police also registered a case against those who were behind the violenace.

On the other hand, Lady Willingdon Hospital Medical Superintendent Khawaja Mehboob Ahmed claims that the allegations made against hospital staff are false.

“How is it possible for a responsible doctor to leave a surgical clamp inside of a patient? The reality is that the patient died due to complications and we were unable to save her,” he said. “Our own employees started this rumour and instigated the family members against us. We have initiated disciplinary action against the employees under the Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability (PEEDA) Act,” he said.



In addition to this, the Punjab Health Department has set up a three-member inquiry committee to investigate the matter. Sources say that the committee, under the supervision of Lady Willingdon Hospital’s Professor Ashraf Chohan, will present its report.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2018.