Med negligence cry in woman's death, case filed against doc

By Shashidhar Parajuli, Biratnagar, April 3: The victim of an incident in which a patient died two months ago due to medical negligence has filed a case in the Morang District Court seeking justice.

Bimala Thapa Pokharel, 56, of Inaruwa, Sunsari, who was admitted to the Nobel Medical College and Teaching Hospital in Biratnagar-4 for treatment of lung and respiratory problems, died due to improper treatment procedures.

After her death, the victim's side approached the court demanding compensation from the culprit. The deceased's husband, Maheshwor Pokharel, filed a complaint in the court on Wednesday, seeking compensation from the defendant and full justice.

The complaint filed in the court states that the patient died due to taking the drug 'morphine' prescribed by a pulmonary doctor to relieve back pain when his lung and respiratory problems were almost resolved.

Bimala was taken to Nobel Medical College for treatment on January 23 after experiencing respiratory problems.

The deceased Bimala was treated by the hospital's lung and respiratory disease specialists Dr Ramhari Ghimire and Dr Rupak KC, who were said to have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and anaemia.

After a week of treatment, the problem improved and Dr. Ghimire suggested that she be discharged and taken home on January 31. The complaint letter mentions that the patient herself distributed fruits and juice to other patients in the ward, happy to be discharged and able to return home.

After the doctor advised her to be discharged, the patient complained of back pain that had been bothering her for almost 25 years. Then Dr. Ghimire prescribed a medicine called morphine, saying that it would cure the problem.

Sushantaraman Pokharel, son of the deceased Bimala, who purchased the medicine from the common medicine shop at Koshi Hospital in Biratnagar, informed this at a press conference in Biratnagar on Thursday.

"This narcotic group medicine is not available anywhere else, it is only available at Koshi Hospital, and even then, it was advised to take this medicine at a rate of 50 mg TDS, which I learned through consulting other doctors and studying that this is extremely wrong." He said, "After taking five 10-milligram tablets of the medicine on the same day, the mother's respiratory level decreased and she died."

General Manager of Nobel Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Dipesh Rai, informed that the hospital is studying the allegations that the patient died due to wrong treatment and the case registered in court in that regard after it became public.