Kochi: Surgery has been successfully completed on Usha Joseph from whose abdomen a pair of surgical scissors was removed on Saturday afternoon at a private hospital in Kochi.
The instrument was later handed over to the Ambalappuzha DySP the same day.
Usha was admitted to the private hospital in Kochi for the procedure to extract the scissors lodged inside her abdomen. As a criminal case has been registered in connection with the incident, the surgery was conducted in the presence of two government doctors. The two doctors were from Government Medical College, Kalamassery.
The scissors retrieved from her abdomen are now part of the material evidence in the registered case and were therefore handed over to the investigating officer, the Ambalappuzha DySP, on Saturday itself.
The shocking discovery came five years after Usha Joseph (51), a native of Punnapra, underwent a hysterectomy at Government Medical College, at Vandanam in Alappuzha. The object found inside her abdomen was a long, curved surgical instrument.
The surgery was performed on May 10, 2021. In the years that followed, Usha reportedly suffered persistent abdominal pain and blood in her urine. Despite undergoing several medical examinations at different places, the cause remained undetected. It was only on Wednesday, after an X-ray was taken on the advice of a urology specialist in Alappuzha, that the presence of the scissors was revealed.
She subsequently approached the Medical College Hospital on Thursday morning and consulted a doctor. Her relatives have alleged that certain doctors advised them not to disclose the incident publicly.
Following the controversy, the Health Department acknowledged the lapse, attributing it to the extraordinary circumstances prevailing during the Covid period. The Director of Medical Education suspended Dr J Shahida, Associate Professor in the Department of Gynaecology who led the surgery, and nurse P S Dhanya from service.
A nine-member team headed by Dr Shahida had carried out the surgery in 2021. The team included a senior resident, a postgraduate doctor, three doctors from the Anaesthesia Department and three nurses. According to medical records, all instruments were counted and verified before and after the procedure. However, a failure in this protocol is now suspected.
Meanwhile, the state witnessed a political storm after protests against the Health Department intensified in the wake of the incident. Opposition parties, including the Congress, have criticised both the Health Minister and the state government over the lapse.