Woman loses hand after botched surgery at Vasai hospital

A 28yearold woman whose right hand had to be amputated after a botched up surgery at a private hospital in Vasai has been struggling to register an FIR against the consulting doctor and the facility for months Saroj Samanto alleged that the hospital is trying to suppress the matter by offering her Rs 25000 The director of the hospital has denied the allegationSamanto is a housemaker and lives in a rented house in Nalasopara East with her husband and two kids She got her right hand fractured while working in a kitchen last year ldquoIt was November 8 2021hellipI was rushed to a municipal hospital after the accidental fall but the doctor was not available there My husband took me to Siddhivinayak Hospital at Evershine Vasai East where Dr Rohit Kewat conducted the surgeryrdquo she recalledSamanto with her husband Deepak and their two kidsSamanto said she was discharged after 4 days ldquoMy right hand had become numb they said it generally happens and it will be all fine after a few daysrdquo she said In a weekrsquos time Samantorsquos hand turned fully black ldquoAfter seeing the condition of my hand the doctor referred me to KEM hospitalrdquo she recalledHer husband Deepak Samanto said KEM doctors sensed the botchedup surgery at first sight ldquoThey told me that the botchedup surgery aggravated my wifersquos health conditionrdquo said Deepak who works in a jewellery shop at Bhayandar and earns Rs 15000 a month At KEM the doctors first amputated her palm and then the portion by the elbow he saidldquoThe couple has been making rounds of police stations in Vasai to file a case against the doctor and Siddhivinayak Hospital but the cops are delaying it for the reason best known to themrdquo said Pradeep Kadam an activist who has been helping the couple ldquoWhen the owner of Siddhivinayak hospital learnt that we are trying to register an FIR against the doctor and hospital they tried to offer me Rs 25000 but I want justice for my wiferdquo said DeepakSamanto said since she can barely manage the household chores and take care of her childrenlsquoWersquore helplessrsquoAfter losing her hand Saroj said she became hopeless ldquoI first thought that why I am alive but I had to survive as my two small daughters need mehellipI want to survive but I have no money for the treatmenthelliprdquo she saidldquoMy husband has been doing all the work He had to give up his job just because of me Recently he got a new job in Bhayandar After returning home from work he does all the pending work right from cleaning the utensils to cooking I feel so helpless as I canrsquot help my husbandrdquo sobbed SarojlsquoIt was thrombosisrsquoDr Kewat said ldquoIt was a midshaft humerus fracture and its biggest complication is the radial nerve injury Generally the nerve which supplies power for the movement of the hand gets injured between the broken bones In a bid to cure the fractured bones one plate needs to be inserted So this patient visited us with the same injury and we suggested them to undergo surgeryrdquoSiddhivinayak Hospital in Vasai where the woman underwent the surgery after she fractured her right hand last yearThe doctor said he suspected ldquothrombosisrdquo after Samantorsquos hand turned black ldquoI donrsquot think her hand was amputated because of the nerve injury but because of the thrombosis after which her hand started to turn blackrdquo The director of the hospital Pravin Kadam said ldquoI was called in by an officer at Achole police station twothree months ago and told them to get a second medical opinion before coming to the conclusionrdquoKadam denied rejected Deepakrsquos allegations of offering him money ldquoAt the police station the husband of the patient Deepak indirectly demanded money from me saying that he has spent R5 lakh on the treatment Why would I offer money to suppress the matterrdquo Zonal DCP Sanjay Kumar Patil said ldquoThe victim had visited me with a complaint After understanding her complaint we have sought the medical opinion of the civil surgeon and the response is awaitedrdquo