A 26-year-old woman died due to an infection allegedly caused by a gauze piece left inside her body after a caesarean at a private hospital in Dehradun.
The chief medical officer of the district, Manoj Sharma, said that an inquiry has been ordered by the department into the incident after the woman’s husband alleged negligence by the hospital.
The woman, Jyoti Pal, died Sunday, and the complaint was lodged Monday. The complaint accused the hospital of leaving the bandage inside her body after the surgery in January, due to which she allegedly contracted an infection.
Sharma said that the probe was ordered Tuesday.
“In January, she underwent surgery for childbirth at a private hospital in Araghar. Last month, they approached another hospital to diagnose the cause of the chronic pain she had been suffering. The ultrasound and computed tomography scan showed the presence of a gauze piece in her abdomen,” he said.
He went on to say: “Since she had her surgery in January, it is believed to have been caused during the procedure. Following the findings, she was operated upon again, but she died Sunday. We have to investigate the claims of negligence against the hospital where her delivery took place.”
Doctors and personnel had to ensure that instruments and gauze were accounted for, the CMO said.
“Gauzes left behind cause pain, but rarely deaths, and it needs to be probed as to why this resulted in such a prolonged infection,” he said. “We need to investigate why this resulted in the death. A summons has been issued to the personnel and doctors who undertook the operation. Prima facie, they are trained and experienced, but we have yet to examine documents.”
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The hospital staff did not respond to queries and stated that the institution had been closed following the inquiry.
A four-member committee headed by Sharma will probe the death. A post-mortem report is awaited in the incident.
