KATHMANDU, Sept 14: A woman from Shankar Nagar of Butwal has died on Wednesday four days after undergoing a surgery for sinus-related problems at Om Hospital, Kathmandu. The deceased has been identified has Kamala Bhattarai, 40.
Bhattarai, a health officer, was suffering from nasal sepsis, which caused constant sneezing, according to her relatives. After visiting the hospital in Kathmandu, she decided to undergo surgery.
She is survived by a daughter and a son.
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Her brother Narayan Neupane, who accompanied his sister at the hospital, and witnessed her death, said, "We had heard that Om was a very good hospital but that is not how it has turned out for us,” said Neupane. “First, she was examined by Dr Rajendra Prasad Guragain at the outpatient's department. He then recommended surgery,” Neupane said.
Dr Guragain, according to the hospital, was involved in her surgery, which was conducted on Saturday. She was transferred to the ward from the postoperative ward on Sunday.
“As soon as she was brought to the ward, she started vomiting, her blood pressure dipped. The hospital told us that she had gastritis. But in the evening on Sunday, the hospital claimed that she had a heart attack. And on Monday, the hospital said that she was suffering from blood infection,” Neupane said, adding, “My sister lost life due to the negligence of the hospital.”
Dr Jageshwar Gautam, director of the hospital said that the blood infection gripped her after the surgery. “We used antibiotics and emergency medicines. But she had multiple organ failure -- her kidneys, lungs, brain and heart stopped functioning properly and she died,” he said.
Dr Gautam dismissed hospital negligence in the death. “Blood infection caused organ failure. There is always high risk of infection after operation in any case,” he added.
Following the death, the hospital was tense on Wednesday when the relatives and well-wishers demonstrated demanding action against 'hospital negligence'.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health (MoH) formed a five-member probe panel to study the case. The probe panel headed by Dr Binod Man Shrestha includes Dr Bikas Devkota and Dr Dhundi Raj Paudel among others.
“The panel started working from Wednesday itself,” said Dr Kiran Regmi, secretary at the MoH.
