Doctors fault results in 'wrong operation'

Doctors at a Tripura medical college cut open a patient's lower abdomen and operated upon the urethra instead of conducting a biopsy of his mouth -- in an apparent case of mistaken identity.

Jhulan Das, wife of the patient Ratan Das, 53, a small-time trader of Ampi Bazaar in southern Tripura, filed a complaint Saturday in this regard with the police and the state health minister.

In her complaint, she said: "Following the advice of senior doctors, my husband was admitted to the Gobinda Ballav Pant Medical College and Hospital last week. He was to undergo a biopsy of his mouth. But the doctors conducted surgery on his lower abdomen and urethra instead."

She also said in her complaint: "I learnt about the wrong operation upon my husband, when he was screaming in his hospital bed on Saturday."

"I asked the doctor why my husband's lower abdomen was operated upon. But the doctors on duty threatened me to remain silent or face dire consequences."

When contacted, doctors at the medical college told reporters the patient has problems in his lower abdomen and urethra also.

But Jhulan Das rejected the doctors' claim.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, sources at the medical college said another patient named Ratan Das with abdomen and urethra-related problems was admitted to the hospital.

The East Kotwali police is probing the matter.