Addressing reporters outside the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) in Chennai, where 18-year-old footballer R Priya died due to alleged medical negligence, Tamil Nadu Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian said, “We have learnt from the medical enquiry committee that neglect by two doctors at the Periyar Nagar government peripheral hospital [where Priya was initially treated] is one of the reasons for her death.” The Minister said that Chief Minister MK Stalin was immediately notified.
Order letters issued on Tuesday by the Director of Medical Education, Kilpauk, say that the two doctors have been suspended “from service with immediate effect” and until further orders. They have been transferred to Virudhunagar and Thoothukudi and are to be confined to the headquarters of the medical facilities they were transferred to. The order prescribes that they “shall not leave the headquarters without obtaining the prior permission of the authority concerned.”
Priya died on Tuesday, November 15, from multiple organ failure due to alleged medical negligence. She died days after undergoing a surgery that was meant to repair ligament tear in her right knee to help her play football better. However, a week after the initial surgery on November 7 and two follow-up surgeries later, Priya lay unconscious in the intensive care unit (ICU) of RGGGH with an amputated leg. She passed away on November 15. Priya hailed from North Madras’ Vyasarbadi and was a first-year student in the Physical Education department at Queen Mary’s College in Chennai.
On October 26, doctors at Government Peripheral Hospital, Periyar Nagar, told Priya that a ligament tear was detected on her right knee and that it would have to be mended through a surgery. When Priya and her family met doctors at the RGGGH for a second opinion, they too had advised her to undergo the surgery at the Periyar Nagar hospital, which was closer to her house.
After the initial surgery, Priya started complaining of pain in her legs. The doctors prescribed a tight compression bandage and medicines for the pain. The very next morning, she was shifted to RGGGH due to a suspected blood clot in her leg. RGGGH doctors then ran tests and informed Priya’s family that the tissues in her right leg were dead. They told them that only an amputation could save her life.
As her condition did not improve, she had to undergo a second follow-up surgery at RGGGH on Monday, November 14. She was monitored by the doctors while she remained sedated and on a ventilator. “The treatment plan is to ensure that there is no further necrosis (death of body tissue) or organ failure,” hospital dean Dr E Theranirajan had told ToI at the time.
At the press meet on Tuesday, Ma Subrmanian said, “Due to lack of attention from the doctors, the compression bandage used on Priya after she underwent a procedure called arthroscopy at the Periyar Nagar government hospital was too tight. It affected the blood flow causing the veins to decay. She was shifted to RGGGH on November 8 because of the pain she was experiencing and other effects.”
The Minister also said, “After Priya’s case came to the attention of Chief Minister Stalin, I visited her at the hospital on November 13. The CM had ordered that Priya’s condition be monitored closely.” He added that the state government had enquired in detail about the treatment that she was receiving. “At the time, both Priya and her parents were doing well,” Ma Subramanian said.
The Minister further explained that since blood flow had stopped due to the damage to her veins, there was a need for her to be treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ward. “A team of doctors, including an orthopedic, knee specialist, aesthetician, urologist, and other senior doctors were attending to her. Late last night, her kidneys, liver, heart, and other organs started to fail.” Ma Subramanian added that Priya died at 7 am on Tuesday.
The Health Minister has also assured a state government job to one of Priya’s three brothers and compensation of Rs 10 lakh.