A doctor's gross negligence

There is much to be improved in the quality of healthcare service in the country. A report published in The Daily Star on November 27, 2017 cited a case that serves as an example of how crucial it is that maternal and neonatal healthcare be prioritised. On September 18, a doctor performed a caesarean operation on a patient at a private hospital in Comilla's Gouripur and delivered her baby girl, leaving its twin inside the womb.

In an inexplicable act of negligence, an ultra-sonogram report conducted earlier that showed that the patient was carrying twins, was overlooked, and the doctor delivered one baby and stitched up the mother's womb without delivering the other, assuming that the other was a tumour. On being admitted once more, following complications post-operation, another operation was conducted and while the mother happened to survive this precarious situation, her child did not.

This is not an isolated incident. There is gross negligence and a casual disregard for human lives that our healthcare practitioners are often guilty of. It must be ensured that service providers who are guilty of negligence are held accountable.

The High Court's orders will hopefully infuse some element of responsibility into the doctors. In addition, mechanisms to ensure this does not happen in the future should be put in place. We should hold practitioners accountable for negligence so that incidents like this do not recur.