Free service surgeons botch up

Jajpur, Orissa: A little girl goes to a free medical camp with hope that doctors will fix her polio-afflicted right hand. The doctors operate upon her healthy right leg and say that they made no mistake.

Laxmipriya Ghadei, 10, is traumatised after the botched surgery and her parents allege doctors are trying to hush up the matter. The family visited the health camp in Orissa’s Jajpur district after hearing that surgery would be free. The camp was organised by the state government and sponsored by a reputed NGO from Gujarat.

"When they started examining my leg in the operation theatre, I pleaded that it's not my leg but my hand which is affected. But perhaps they could not understand my language and they went ahead with the operation," says Laxmipriya.

Her mother, Pushpalata Ghadei, is outraged. "There was no problem with her leg; she could walk and play like other children. We always examined her hand for treatment," says Pushpalata.

Laxmipriya's alleges that after he complained against the doctors the medical records of the surgery were taken away. The surgeon says the surgery was not a mistake but planned because Laxmipriya's right leg is mildly affected by polio too.

Surgeon Dr SC Gupta claims: "We had investigated properly before the operation and the major operation of the hand could not have been carried out due to less of haemoglobin. It was planned and not a mistake at all."

Laxmipriya's parents deny the doctor's claim that they were told about the surgery on their daughter’s leg. They say if they had told, they would not have consented the surgery.

The district administration has assured the family that it would pay for Laxmipriya’s medical treatment, but the family wants to know whether their allegation is being probed.

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