Minister for Health K. Muraleedharan has said that a senior resident at Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) here has been suspended following an incident in which maggots were found in the surgical wound of a patient.
The Minister said in the Assembly on Thursday that a four-member committee, including the Vice Principal of the MCH, the superintendent, and the heads of Orthopaedics and General Surgery departments, which inquired into the incident, found that mistakes had been committed. Accordingly, senior resident Abhijeet has been placed under suspension.
The MCH Principal had been also been asked to conduct a detailed investigation into how the maggots came to be found on the leg of the patient, Rajendraprasad. Mr. Rajendraprasad had undergone an orthopaedic surgery after sustaining serious injuries to legs in a road accident. A metal rod had to be inserted to repair the fractured bone and his injured limb had been kept stabilised using an external fixator.
His family had alleged that maggots were found on his injured limb after he was shifted to the ward following the initial post-operative period in the intensive care unit. The Minister said the family had alleged that neither a nurse nor the doctor acted when they complained.
On patient’s death
He said further action would be taken in the incident in which a patient died soon after he fell face down from the cot at the MCH. The Minister said he had received the post-mortem report of the patient Wilfred on Tuesday night. Wilfred had been admitted at the hospital with severe jaundice and associated neurological issues such as altered sensorium. He had Wilson’s disease, which affects the liver and the brain. So, he had been accommodated in a special ward.
On May 30, he fell from the cot and though he was rushed to the ICU, he died after a while. The Minister said it was decided that action would be taken on the basis of the post-mortem report.
The report indicates head injury, and so it could have led to the death. However, his disorder was a very serious one, he pointed out. Further action would be taken on Thursday itself.
Published – June 04, 2026 04:49 pm IST
