Series Of Wrong Calls, Lapses Behind Kerala Man's Near-Death Experience

A Kannur man's brush with death was the result of a series of misjudgments and medical lapses, it has come to light.

- LAKSHMI ATHIRA @Kannur

The Justice K S Hegde Charitable Hospital in Mangaluru, which initially treated Velluvakandi Pavithran, 67, of Pachapoyka, confirmed that he was discharged on his family's insistence against medical advice.

Adding to the controversy, the AKG Hospital in Kannur where Pavithran's family took him after presuming he had died, allowed placing the 'body' in the mortuary without a doctor's confirmation of death.

A Hegde Hospital spokesperson told TNIE that no assurance on Pavithran's survival was provided to his family.

"He was brought to our facility from another private hospital in Mangaluru on January 13 at 4:30 am in an ambulance with ventilator and inotropic support. Doctors suspected meningitis and recommended an MRI. However, the family declined further tests and asked if he could survive without ventilator support. Our team made it clear his survival could not be guaranteed," the spokesperson said.