Madras High Court adjourns matter of anticipatory bail for doctors involved in teen footballer death

Chief Medical Officer Dr K Somasundar and Assistant Professor Dr Paul Ram Shankar of the Peripheral Hospital at Periyar Nagar had sought anticipatory bail after a case under Section 304(A) of IPC has been filed against them.

Both doctors have been suspended by the Tamil Nadu government.

The court said that the incident occurred very recently and the petitioners must allow the police to investigate the matter.

The doctors’ counsel argued that their and their family’s safety should be taken into consideration as they were getting threatening calls.

The family of the deceased footballer is demanding the arrest of the doctors.

A case of negligence?

Priya R visited the Periyar Nagar Government Peripheral Hospital on 26 October to treat a ligament tear in her right knee. She underwent surgery on 7 November.

Her parents said Priya complained of consistent knee pain after the surgery. The incision was covered with a tight compression bandage and the hospital staff reportedly ignored her complaints of severe pain.

The next day, the girl’s relatives shifted her to the RGGGH, suspecting a blood clot. Test results revealed that the tissue in her right leg had been damaged beyond repair. The doctors said her leg had to be amputated above the knee to save her life.

“When she was brought to RGGGH, she had necrotic wounds due to necrosis (death of body tissue). Subsequently, we conducted some tests and came to the conclusion that the amputation of her right leg above the knee was required,” Dr Therani Rajan, Dean at RGGGH, told South First.

On 9 November, Priya’s leg was amputated, crushing her dream of bagging a government job through the sports quota.

Still, the pain persisted as the dead tissue at the amputated part kept building up. The doctors decided on a second surgery to remove her leg from the hip joint to save her.

However, during the second surgery, the doctors decided against removing the limb due to her deteriorating condition. Instead, they cleared the dead tissues in and around the amputated area on Monday, 14 November. Though doctors were constantly monitoring her, she died of multiple organ failure early on Tuesday.

“She was on life support after the surgery. She developed further complications like myoglobinuria, which resulted in the failure of the renal system and eventually, her liver and heart too were infected,” Rajan said.

Case against doctors

The Health Department held an inquiry and found medical negligence on the part of Chief Medical Officer Dr K Somasundar and Assistant Professor Dr Paul Ram Shankar of the Peripheral Hospital.

Earlier, they were transferred from the hospital, but after Priya’s death, they were placed under suspension.

The Peravallur police registered a case under Section 304 (A) of the IPC against five people, including both the doctors, on Friday, 18 November, after receiving a report from an expert committee, constituted to probe the medical negligence.

The Peravallur police had earlier registered a case under Section 174 (unnatural death) of CrPC, based on the girl’s father Ravi Sankar’s complaint, but later altered the IPC section after they received the expert committee report.