Mukkapati Srinivasa Rao was walking when he went to a hospital to get operated for the severe neck pain, but when left it all his limbs were paralysed. This happened in March 2014 and ever since he has been “bedridden”.
Srinivasa Rao’s brother Eswar Prasad said the patient could walk when he was admitted to the Manipal Hospitals on February 24, 2014, but when he left on March 11 his hands and legs were paralysed and he had to be taken home on a stretcher. He was admitted for operation on the advice of a private orthopaedic surgeon who said unless Srinivasa Rao underwent a spinal operation he would lose the use of his hands and legs.
Srinivasa Rao remains bedridden, but his relatives have ensured that the doctor who performed the surgery has been stripped of the licence to practice medicine by the Andhra Pradesh Medical Council. And the Manipal Hospitals which rented its Operation Theatre (OT) for the surgery under the NTR Vaidya Seva Scheme (the erstwhile Arogyasree Scheme) was asked to pay penalty of Rs 3,30,000 for allowing an orthopaedic surgeon A Suryanarayana to perform a procedure that should have been done by a neurosurgeon.
Dr Suryanarayana has been charged with impersonation, stripped of the licence to practise medicine for one year on June 25, 2016 and asked to surrender his Permanent Registration Certificate by the A.P. Medical Council.
Srinivasa Rao was suffering from ‘Cervical Spondylotic Myelopath’ (CSM), a neck condition that arises when the spinal cord becomes squeezed due to the wear and tear changes that occur in the spine for a wide range of reasons. Patients suffering from CSM experience a wide range of symptoms including neck pain, weakness and numbness in the hands and arms. It progresses slowly and rarely worsens rapidly.
A Manipal Hospitals spokesperson said the hospital had to pay the penalty for “a clerical error”. “No doctor can guarantee the outcome of a surgical procedure. It is un-ethical for doctors to predict results of procedures. There was an obligation for the hospital to allow the use of OT to visiting consultants,” said Regional Head Somasekhar in defence of the institution and the orthopaedic surgeon.
The Pandora’s box has been opened in the case more recently with Srinivasa Rao’s spouse Anuradha approaching Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for help and justice. A report submitted by Inquiry Officer and Guntur DM&HO T. Padmaja Rani came down on the corporate hospital charging it with being “guilty of gross negligence” and recommended “action” against it. The officer also said the patient deserved more compensation.
