Chennai hospital sealed as patient dies following weight-loss surgery
A health department release said the surgery was performed with untrained, unqualified nurses and informed consent was not obtained from the youth's parents
Authorities have sealed a hospital in Chennai over allegations of deficiencies in services after a 26-year-old man died following a weight loss surgery in April.
The registration of BP Jain Hospital at Pammal in the city’s southern suburbs was cancelled on Wednesday (May 8). It has been told to shift its patients to other hospitals, media reports said.
Hospital’s failure
An official of the directorate of medical services told the media that the decisions were taken after a two-member committee probed the death of S Hemachandran in the hospital on April 23.
The hospital allegedly did not obtain informed written consent from Hemachandran’s family before the bariatric surgery. “It is important to explain the risks and side effects of surgeries to all patients and take written consent from them,” the official said.
He explained that there was nothing wrong with the surgical technique per se. But during the surgery, when the patient went into cardiac arrest, there were no intensivists, general physicians or cardiologists to deal with the emergency.
Case history
Complaints of negligence against the surgeons and other doctors have been filed with the Tamil Nadu Medical Council, media reports said.
Hemachandran was admitted to the hospital on April 21 for surgery after his condition failed to improve despite prolonged medication, diet control and exercises.
During the surgery on April 22, he went into sudden cardiac arrest but the hospital did not have a cardiologist or ICU physician. He was shifted to another hospital where he was put on life support. He died on April 23.
Govt release
An official release from the health department said the surgery was performed with untrained, non-qualified staff nurses. Even after the patient suffered a cardiac arrest, there was a one-hour delay in shifting him to another hospital.
The release further added that informed consent was not obtained from Hemachandran’s parents prior to the surgery. The hospital did not have any ICU doctors, general physicians or cardiologists on duty when the surgery was performed, nor did it possess any high-end equipment such as an ECMO, it noted.
Bariatric surgery
The weight loss surgery is a treatment given to people who are severely obese, with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more, and who do not reduce their weight through medicine, healthy diet or exercise.
But doctors warn that all forms of weight loss surgery pose risk and side effects, and these need to be explained by doctors to the patients and their families.
Additionally, those undergoing the surgery will have to make lasting healthy changes to the diet and do regular exercises.
Many risks
According to medical experts, while bariatric surgery is done to overcome life-threatening weight-related health issues, it comes with potential risks including excessive bleeding, infection, blood clots, lung or breathing problems and, in some cases, death.
Depending on the surgery, this can also lead to complications such as bowel obstruction, gallstones, hernias, low blood sugar, vomiting and acid reflux.
