Suicide attempt suspected
PNS|WARANGAL
A postgraduate first-year student of the Kakatiya Medical College (KMC) was found unconscious under suspicious circumstances at the MGM Hospital on Wednesday.
Although the patient’s family has claimed that she had attempted suicide due to harassment by a fellow doctor, doctors who attended on her cite her pre-existing heart conditions and self-administration of a drug for the loss of her conscious.
The student, identified by the police as Dharavathi Preethi, is pursuing post-graduation in Anaesthesia. While on night shift, Preethi reportedly felt headache and went to her room from the operation theatre for taking rest. At about 7:15AM, the staff nurse on duty went to Preethi’s room and found her unconscious.
Doctors later found that the patient’s heart had stopped and performed CPR on her. A medico-legal case has been registered. The patient has been shifted to NIMS Hospital, Hyderabad for advanced treatment.
When contacted, Dr Srinivas Gundagani from NIMS Hospital, Hyderabad said:”The patient was immediately taken to ICU. Her condition is critical, and she is under emergency care. We do not have any details as to why the incident happened.”
Earlier, the Superintendent of MGM hospital said: “The student has pre-existing conditions of arthritis and thyroid problem and has administered herself an injection, Tramadol, which is a pain killer that could have adverse effects on heart conditions. In a 2D echo scan, it was also revealed that there is a 28 percent ejection fraction of heart, global hypokinesia, pancreatitis, ascites, and lung problem, which led to the loss of consciousness in the patient.”
However, Preethi’s parents maintain that her ‘suicide attempt’ is a grim sequel to the continual harassment to which she had been subject by a senior postgraduate student from the same college. In fact, Preethi’s father Narendra pointed out, he had lodged a complaint with MattewadaPolice over phone after his daughter narrated a harrowing tale of harassment she was subjected to by the senior student.
Dr Srikanth Sativada, member of the Telangana Junior Doctors Association, said: “The Tramadol injection is a painkiller, it does not have adverse effects unless there are pre-existing heart conditions. The patient’s heart was found to be mid functioning, that is the reason why she had lost consciousness. We extend our support to her family in these difficult circumstances. But we also condemn the false allegations by which they are targeting a senior anaesthesia PG student without proper inquiry or investigation of the incident. We request the concerned to restrain themselves from coming to any conclusion till a proper investigation is conducted.”
