Kolkata: Busy watching Ind-NZ match, hospital staff loses patient's finger
A private hospital in Kolkata misplaced a patient's severed finger, which was to be re-attached during a surgical procedure. The victim reportedly met with an accident on Wednesday and his finger got severed. He was supposed to have the finger re-attached in surgery on Thursday. However, his wife said the staff lost the finger as they were busy watching the World Cup semifinal match.
Victim's finger severed when his motorbike fell during accident
On Wednesday afternoon, Nilotpal Chakraborty, fell while riding his motorcycle with his left ring finger falling under the bike, resulting in it getting severed. Chakraborty, a resident of Howrah and a chemical engineer, was then rushed to The Calcutta Medical Research Institute (CMRI) by his colleagues, who preserved the finger in a clean plastic bag and submitted it to the hospital.
Chakraborty's finger was to be reattached in surgery on Thursday
Chakraborty was due for surgery on Thursday morning at 10 am. However, at the time of the scheduled surgery, the finger was nowhere to be found. After two hours of searching, the hospital staff reported that the finger had indeed gone missing.
Someone said finger probably disposed in dustbin: Chakraborty's wife
Speaking to TOI, Chakraborty's wife, Chayanika, said, "We deposited the severed finger at the emergency desk requesting them to preserve it as the surgery was scheduled on Thursday morning." "Before he was wheeled into the operation theater, we were told that the severed fingertip is missing," she said, adding "Someone told us that it was probably disposed off in the dustbin."
Husband rendered handicapped for life, states wife in police complaint
Chayanika then filed a police complaint against the hospital for medical negligence, The Quint reported. "For the safety of the patient, we were forced to go ahead with the surgery without the missing fingertip, and my husband was rendered handicapped for life," she stated.
Not a clean-cut injury; couldn't be stitched back, says doctor
However, doctors claim the finger could not have been re-attached. Dr. Anupam Golash, who was attending to Chakraborty, said, "It was not a clean-cut injury but looked like a pulled-out cut with numerous blood vessels and tendons hanging out." He added, "I told the patient's family that the chance of stitching it back was just about 10%, but we could take the chance."
Preliminary probe launched; police asked for hospital's CCTV footage
After the finger went missing, Alipore police station has launched a preliminary probe and have asked the hospital for CCTV footage, although, Chayanika's complaint is yet to be converted into an FIR. Meanwhile, Chakraborty is said to be in a stable condition.
