Around 4:00pm last Thursday, Abul Kashem took his wife, Lily Begum, to Mamtaz Uddin General Hospital in Savar's Polashbari area as she was suffering from throat pain.

The family lived in nearby Dendabor area of Ashulia. Kashem is a grocer by profession and Lily, 32, a housewife. The couple has three sons -- 16, 12 and 2 years of age.

The deceased, Lily Begum, who was admitted to the hospital, top, on Thursday. Photo: star, collected

Doctors at the private clinic suggested that Lily needed a tonsil removal operation immediately, which they said would cost around Tk 9,000.

Around 8:00pm, Dr Mudassir Mahmud, a specialist from Dhaka's National Institute of ENT (Ear Nose Throat), who also sees patients at the clinic; and Dr Ittajul Islam, an anaesthetist, took her to the operation theatre (OT) for surgery.

The family waited outside the OT, praying for Lily's quick recovery.

The surgery was supposed to take not more than 30 minutes, and according to US-based organisation Medscape, tonsil removal (tonsillectomy) is considered one of the most common major surgical procedures.

But two hours went by. To Kashem, something did not feel right. He tried to inquire about his wife's condition but to no avail.

Around 10:00pm, Dr Mudassir informed him that he should take Lily to another hospital for “better treatment as her condition was critical”.

“The doctor then left the hospital. I also did not see any staff member afterwards,” Kashem, 40, said. “We rushed inside the OT and found my wife lying unconscious on the operation table.”

“I took my wife to nearby Habib Clinic right away. Doctors there said she was brought dead… We still cannot believe she is no longer with us,” said the grief-stricken husband.

“My wife died due to wrong treatment,” he alleged.

CASE FILED FOR 'WRONG TREATMENT'

On Friday, Kashem filed a case with Ashulia Police Station against Dr Mudassir Mahmud, Dr Ittajul Islam (written “mistakenly” as Dr Emtajul Islam in the case document) and the clinic's managing director Rubel Wahid, alleging that his wife died due to wrong treatment.

“Everything was normal… She cooked for our sons before going to the hospital. She even spoke to me when they were taking her to the OT.

Md Rashedul Islam, Lily's nephew, who was present during the operation, alleged that they did not get any help from the clinic management when they tried to take her to another hospital. The staff members also fled the clinic, he claimed.

DOCTOR'S VERSION

This correspondent tried to get in touch with Dr Mudassir Mahmud on Friday, but he did not pick up the phone. He, however, answered his phone on Saturday around 4:00pm.

“No doctor wants to see a patient die. The woman died of heart attack. Sometimes it happens during operation,” he claimed.

He also claimed that he did not do anything wrong during surgery. “I have conducted such surgeries many a times in various hospitals,” he added.

When asked why he left the hospital, he said he had explained the situation to the family before leaving the hospital. He also claimed that he had notified the family of the patient's death.

Dr Ittajul Islam did not answer his phone despite repeated attempts for the last three days.

Meanwhile, this correspondent spoke to a number of doctors over the issue of “heart attack”.

Seeking anonymity, they all agreed it was quite unusual for a patient to die of cardiac arrest during a tonsillectomy. They, however, mentioned that it might have happened due to an overdose of anaesthesia.

Dr Mudassir did not answer his phone when called again on Monday.

HOSPITAL OWNER'S VERSION

Mokhlesur Rahman, owner of the hospital, said he could not get in touch with the doctors yet. “I will be able to assess the situation after speaking to them.”

Mokhlesur, a local businessman, is the husband of councillor Rasheda Begum of Dhamsona Union Parishad.

PROBE COMMITTEE FORMED

A four-member committee led by Dr Shahanaz Parvin, junior consultant (surgery) of Savar Upazila Health Complex, has been formed to investigate the incident, said Amjadul Haque, upazila health and family planning officer in Savar.

The committee has been asked to submit a report to him within 10 working days. It will also verify whether the patient had died of cardiac arrest, as claimed by Dr Mudassir, he added.

Javed Masud, officer-in-charge of Ashulia Police Station, said Lily's body was handed over to the family after an autopsy at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital.

“We are investigating the incident. We will get the autopsy report within a week.” he added.

'LUNCH BREAK'

During a visit to Mamtaz Uddin General Hospital around 1:00pm on Saturday, this correspondent did not see any doctor there.

Other than five patients left unattended, there was an accounts official and some nurses present at the hospital.

This correspondent stayed there till 4:00pm; but no doctor showed up. The lone operation theatre was locked and no one was allowed to enter.

When asked, Jhumu, who claimed to be the accounts officer, said the doctors were on “lunch break”, which was till 4:00pm. “In case of emergency, we call them back,” she added.

The correspondent also visited the hospital on Monday around 12:30pm when the OT was sill locked from outside.

Without elaborating, Sadiqul Islam, manager of the hospital, said they were ordered to keep the OT locked.

There was only one emergency medical officer present at the hospital that day. Asked for comment, Dr Arghya Chandra Sarkar misbehaved with this correspondent and abruptly left for his “lunch break”.