Injection overdose kills man in hospital?

When 28-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim Sheikh got admitted to Shabnam Hospital at Wadala for a surgery to treat his piles, his family expected him to be discharged within a week or so.

But Sheikh, who was employed with a transport firm, died after being administered anaesthesia and two injections before the surgery on July 2. 

“It was sheer negligence on part of the doctors at Shabnam hospital. I have not heard of anyone dying because of piles,” said an inconsolable Kausar Bano, Sheikh’s wife. 

While the victim’s family claims it was a case of medical negligence and filed a case with the Antop Hill police, the hospital authorities and doctors have denied the charge.

The family further claimed that the hospital authorities had tried to cover up the matter by offering them Rs2 lakh as compensation.

“There was no negligence on part of the doctors as the patient died at the bed due to a convulsion attack [an intense, paroxysmal, involuntary muscular contraction],” said Dr Sarfaraz Khan, whose family runs the hospital.

He also denied the allegations that the hospital had offered the family money. “Why would we offer money to the victim’s family when the matter is already with the police? The patient’s post-mortem report will reveal the truth,” Dr Khan added.

Sheikh, who lived in the Vijay Nagar area at Wadala, was suffering from piles. After his condition worsened, he was advised to undergo surgery.

On July 2, Sheikh was to be operated on by Dr Salil Jumraj at Shabnam Hospital and was administered anaesthesia by Dr Neha. But Sheikh complained of severe body pain and started convulsing.  The doctors gave him an injection to control the pain, but his condition deteriorated. They gave him yet another injection, a relative claimed. “His condition worsened after the third injection,” alleged a relative.

Mohammed Mashaik, the victim’s brother, said: “When we requested the doctor to shift him to another hospital, they sent him to a hospital in Govandi though there are so many hospitals nearby.”  Sheikh died before being admitted to Kailash Jeevan Hospital in Govandi.

But, hospital authorities claimed that ICU and ventilator facilities were not available at any nearby hospital, so they rushed him to Kailash Jeevan Hospital.

The victim’s relatives also claimed that the doctors who accompanied Sheikh to the Govandi hospital did not allow them to travel in the ambulance. “Why were family members not allowed to travel in the ambulance?” asked another relative of the victim.