TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Has this woman from Navelim, Sharon Furtado died due to negligence of the Goa Medical College doctors and staff as they were busy celebrating the birthday of a colleague doctor in the hospital on February 15 last?
This and other questions of negligence have been raised by Sharon’s husband Antonio and family members as the family have sought justice for the deceased, who had breathed her last in GMC, Bambolim after delivering twins (baby boys) on February 15 night. The husband has also accused a Ponda-based nursing home of negligence, while demanding that the government come out clean on his wife’s death, suspecting that attempts are on to hush up the matter.
Addressing the media, Antonio said he had spent around Rs 4 to 5 lakh on the treatment of his wife at the Ponda nursing home since they had no issue after marriage. “On February 15 evening at 5.15 pm, the nursing home doctor told me to shift my wife to the GMC as her platelet count was below normal. When my wife was admitted in the GMC, doctors there maintained that the platelet count was normal”, Antonio recalled.
He pointed out that Sharon delivered two baby boys on the same evening at around 11 pm, but hastened to add that when his wife was brought out from the labour room after delivery, she complained of giddiness, but there was no one to attend to her. “For two hours and half, my was wife was not given proper treatment due to sheer negligence of the doctors and nurses as they were celebrating the birthday of a GMC doctor. When I went to look out for the doctors, I could not find anyone around. No one was next to my wife except me and my family members. This is a clear case of neglect of the concerned doctors. Two doctors finally came to attend to my wife after a nurse called them since the patient was serious. My wife died at around 2.30 am on the following day, but the doctors have tried to show that my wife died at around 5.30 am”, he said.
What has come as a surprise to the Furtado family and their friends alike is that they have not been intimated of the inquiry conducted by GMC authorities after Antonio lodged a complaint with the chief minister and other authorities demanding a probe in his wife’s death. “They had only called me for interrogation once, wherein they asked me a host of questions. I have requested the authorities to register a case and book all doctors for alleged negligence on duty”, he said, while threatening to go on an indefinite fast unto death if any attempt is made to hush up the case.
Addressing the media, Green Goa Foundation Chairman Raison Almeida has asked the government to lay bare the inquiry report before the public. “This is a clear case of negligence by both the private nursing home and the GMC doctors. We will not rest till justice is done to the Furtado family”, he vowed.
The media briefing was attended amongst others by twins, who are being nursed by their paternal grandparents after the death of their mother.
