Hospital owner, doctor held for death in illegal C-section

Narayanganj, Sep 29 – Police here on Saturday arrested six people including a hospital owner and doctor in connection with the death of a 5-month pregnant woman, allegedly due to wrong treatment at a private hospital in Fatullah. Shilpi Begum, 30, wife of Alamgir Hossain, a mechanic of Kutubpur east Delpara, died on Friday, one day after her husband brought her to the New Popular General Hospital as she was feeling sick.
Doctors there after some initial tests said that the baby was normal but Shilpi had to be admitted for a few days and kept under observation. But out of nowhere on Friday afternoon doctors at the hospital informed Alamgir that an operation was needed urgently.
Without even seeking the consent of the patient, they rushed her husband to arrange blood while they already took the patient to the operation theatre and operated a Caesarean section.
By the time Alamgir returned with the blood his wife was dead, along with the 5-month foetus.
Perhaps most outrageously, doctors and nurses refused to acknowledge this fact to Alamgir, instead of stoking a façade that Shilpi needed to be shifted to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) as her condition was critical.
Doctors and nurses made an entire show of putting Shilpi in an ambulance (a job usually left to attendants) to avoid blame even though she was already dead, Alamgir alleges.
Meanwhile, Dr Kamrunnahar, Shilpi’s gynaecologist, said she died from a sudden stroke during the operation, after which they brought out the dead baby by C-section. She insists there was no wrong treatment.
They also referred the patient to DMCH as her condition deteriorated, she said.
The detainees are Dr Mojibur Rahman, owner of New Popular Hospital, Dr Kamrunnahar, Masum Ahmed, Ahmad Ali Khan, Medical officer Dr Jamil Ahmed and nurse Surma Begum.
Sub-inspector of Fatullah Model Police Station Didarul Alam confirmed six people had been held from the hospital.
After the incident, agitated relatives of the deceased vandalised some parts of the hospital but they were eventually brought under control, he added. – UNB