Medical negligence! Raipur doctors put Odisha man’s chopped thumb in abdomen for replantation 

In a shocking incidence of alleged medical negligence, the doctors of a private hospital in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur allegedly made a hole in the abdomen of an Odia patient, kept the stitched-up thumb in it, assuring the patient that the finger would automatically get joined as it was earlier. 

Now, with the doctors’ assurance proven wrong and the patient suffering from pain due to the wound on the abdomen, the patient’s family has knocked on the door of the Consumer court praying for a compensation of Rs 5 crore. 

The patient has been identified as Sanat Mohanty of Hirakud area in Sambalpur district. 

Describing his ordeal, Mohanty said, “When we reached the hospital, the doctors asked us to come with the severed thumb. We came with the severed thumb kept in an ice chamber. They stitched the two ends of the severed thumb and the palm and assured us that it would become like a normal thumb.”

“After two days’ observation, when the bandage was untied, it was found that it was not joined, not even one percent. Then they told us about another method to join the severed thumb. Assuring us that the next technique was a guaranteed one, they told us that if the stitched-up thumb was kept in the abdomen, new cells would be created and it would be healed. Though we had never ever heard of this, we gave them a go-ahead. They made a hole in my abdomen and placed the stitched thumb inside it. I spent 15 days with my right hand tied to the abdomen,” added Mohanty. 

‘After some days, they told us that the thumb and the wound on the stomach had been infected. They not only took the thumb out of the stomach but also removed the stitched part. When the first attempt went wrong, they shouldn’t have gone for the second procedure,” observed Mohanty. 

However, Dr Akshaya Rout of Odisha termed the procedure as the right procedure. 

“The treatment procedure was perfect. Since they (Raipur doctors) failed in joining the severed thumb as per Plan A they had opted for Plan B,” claimed Dr Rout.