Hyderabad:
Batti Keerthi was eagerly waiting for the birth of her twins she conceived after seven years of marriage. But an alleged botched procedure performed by a nurse on the doctor’s instructions over the phone dashed her hopes of holding her babies. Keerthi’s twins died, and the family has blamed the doctor’s negligence for their crushing loss.
Keerthi is from Eliminedu village in Telangana’s Rangareddy district. She conceived through in vitro fertilisation or IVF five months back and was under the care of Dr Anusha Reddy. Last month, she visited the Vijaya Laxmi Hospital for a check-up. According to reports, Dr Reddy noticed that Keerthi’s cervix had loosened, performed some stitches, advised her to rest, and sent her home.
Around 4 am on Sunday, about a month after the check-up, Keerthi was in severe labour pain and was rushed to the same hospital. At the time, the doctor was not present. Over video and audio calls, Dr Reddy instructed nurses to carry out several medical procedures, including administering injections. Some reports say that Keerthi’s stitches ruptured when she was administered an injection for pain relief. Around 10.30 am, the twins were removed from Keerthi’s womb. She lost a lot of blood and when Dr Reddy arrived, Keerthi was told that her babies were dead.
“I had an ache in my abdomen. Over the phone, they asked me to take an injection. I was worried, so we came to the hospital within half an hour. The doctor advised the nurses over the phone and they started the treatment on her instructions. The nurse checked me twice. I started bleeding. It is only after my babies came out that the doctor arrived. She said the babies had died. The doctor didn’t check me at all,” a heartbroken Keerthi said.
B Venkateswar Rao, District Medical and Health Officer for Rangareddy, said Keerthi is safe. “It was extremely unprofessional of the doctor to let the nurses perform the complex procedure. We will conduct a thorough inquiry and submit our report to the police and higher authorities,” he said, according to a report in The Times of India.
Keerthi’s family has filed a police complaint and an FIR has been registered under sections of medical negligence. Police have said they will take further action based on the health department’s report.
