Bihar Woman Critical After Urinary Tract cut at Private Clinic

Patna: A woman in her mid-20s from Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) is battling for life after her urinary tract was allegedly cut during a uterus removal operation at a private nursing home in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district on December 23, 2022. 

A rural medical practitioner of Shri Siddhi Sewa Sadan who operated on Pinki Kumari is absconding with the nursing home shut after an FIR was lodged by her mother Devanti Devi, who told Newsclick that her daughter, a mother of three, urgently requires proper treatment at a well-equipped hospital.  

“My daughter is in very bad health since her urinary tract was cut during the uterus operation at Shri Siddhi Sewa Sadan. I had lodged an FIR in Bariyarpur Outpost Police Station, under Sakra block, against the ‘doctor’ and the nursing home,” she said. Pinki’s children cannot attend school because she can’t get them ready and prepare their lunch, she added.

Bariyarpur Outpost sub-inspector Chandni Kumari told Newsclick that the matter is being investigated. An initial probe has revealed that the nursing home lacked an operation theatre and other basic medical facilities. Besides, it neither has a registration number nor has displayed the degrees of its ‘doctors’, the police said. 

The police have informed the district civil surgeon Dr UC Sharma for an inquiry into the incident by the health department.

“I came to know about the incident through the media and will look into this,” Sharma, who has asked officials of the local government hospital for a report, told Newsclick.

He admitted that several illegal private clinics are operating in the district, mainly in rural areas, and it is not possible to take action them due to the lack of resources with the health department.

According to Devanti, Pinki consulted a rural medical practitioner named Rakesh Kumar Roushan, alias Munnaji, on December 19 after having a continuous stomach ache. After conducting an ultrasound test two days later, the man prescribed some tablets and suggested uterus removal. 

On December 22, Munnaji took Pinki to the nursing home, where she was operated on the next day, Devanti added. “When her condition deteriorated the next day, we rushed her to a private hospital in neighbouring Samastipur district, where doctors informed us that her urinary tract was cut during the operation.” 

Devanti, who borrowed money at a high interest rate from moneylenders and mortgaged her jewellery to collect almost Rs 1 lakh for Pinki’s treatment at the private hospital, said that her condition is not improving. 

“She has developed urine and kidney-related problems. We are poor and have no resources to continue her treatment for long,” she added.

It is the second case of violation of medical ethics in rural Bihar. Last September, a Dalit woman's kidneys were allegedly removed in the name of a uterus removal operation at a private nursing home in Muzaffatpur. 

Sunita Devi, in her early 30s, is still awaiting a kidney transplant for survival, but the health department has failed to arrange a donor so far. 

Sunita, a mother of two from a village under Sakra block, was rushed to Subhakant Clinic following stomach pain, her husband Aklu Ram had told Newsclick. 

After an examination and an ultrasound, doctors asked the family to admit her for a uterus removal operation immediately. However, her condition deteriorated and she was rushed to Patna Medical College and Hospital, where doctors said that her kidneys had been removed.

Ram said that she is undergoing regular dialysis at the Muzaffarpur’s government-run Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital.

Like in Pinki’s case, an initial police probe revealed that the clinic lacked an operation theatre and basic facilities with the doctors absconding, the police said.