Woman dies after surgery; kin blame hospital for negligence

Relatives of a 56-year-old woman who died after surgery at a city hospital have approached the Maharashtra Medical Council, claiming she died due to "gross negligence" of the hospital.
They said the hospital convinced them that the patient needed to undergo a new and expensive heart valve procedure, claiming it was "200 per cent safe".
"My mother-in-law Manju Bafna died a fortnight ago after being discharged from the hospital while still in coma," said Sanjay Bharkatia.
The family then lodged a complaint with the Council as the "unprofessional attitude and gross medical negligence" on part of hospital cost her life, he said.

Doctors at the hospital had assured the family members that it would be "200 per cent safe" for the patient to undergo the newly-introduced the Transcatheter aortic valve implantation procedure, he said.
"They told me that my mother-in-law would be able to go home within five-six days after the surgery which was performed on October 25. She was forced to leave on December 19 while still in a comatose condition," he said.

She died on December 19 immediately after she was discharged from the hospital, he said.
Bafna, whose heart valve had been replaced earlier, was hospitalised after she developed breathlessness, he said.

The hospital asked the family to pay the bill of Rs 44 lakh, he said, adding the hospital returned Rs 11 lakh after the family pointed "lapses" in her treatment.
Action should be taken against the hospital doctors and staff for ethical and professional misconduct, he said.
The hospital hasn't come out with a statement yet.