Hansal Mehta to sue Pune Hospital for mother's death

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta lost his mother Mrs Kishori Mehta on Friday 18 January (2013) after a brief illness, leaving the Mehta family, which had been assured that they would bring their beloved matriarch home in two weeks, stunned. Hansal, who has devoted his film career to directing themes of social injustice, is now poised for a long battle with a luxury hospital in Pune where the director’s mother allegedly died of gross medical negligence. Reliving the trauma of the weeks gone-by, Hansal tries his best to control his emotions as he narrates the chain of events in an even tone. “My mother was admitted into this high-end nursing home in Pune which boasts of some of the best doctors and medical facilities in the country. After preliminary tests my mother was diagnosed with oral cancer of the mouth. The prescribed treatment began immediately.” A tube was inserted into Mrs Mehta’s stomach facilitate her food intake without the use of the mouth. That’s when the troubles really started. Recounting the horrific turn of events Hansal says, “The doctors assured my mother that the tube in her stomach would cause her no discomfort. But immediately after the insertion she complained of pain which the doctors didn’t take seriously. As the days passed Mom complained of worsened pain. The doctors dismissed her acute discomfort as chemotherapy-induced trauma.” Finally the Mehta family put its collective feet down and asked for the pain to be examined. A sonography test was done. To their horror the beleaguered family was told that the pipe had apparently been inserted into the wrong place, which all the food was actually going into an area in the abdomen other than the stomach. Says Hansal sorrowfully, “We don’t know if the pipe was inserted wrong or went into the wrong place. All we know is that my mother’s pain was not taken seriously by the doctors. My mother did not die of cancer. She died of complications caused by the wrong insertion of the tube in the stomach which caused sepsis. We want to know why my mother’s pain was ignored. A woman who never in her life complained about anything was repeatedly complaining of pain, and the doctors said she was lying. We want to know why the doctors made such an erroneous insertion of the tube in her stomach.” More shocking was when Mrs Mehta’s condition grew critical because of the misplaced tube in her stomach she needed to be put on dialysis. This is when the doctors dropped the biggest shock on the Mehta family. Says Hansal with a shudder, “They told us my mother needed to be put on the dialysis. But the dialysis machine was not working. These were supposed to be among the best medical experts in the country. We want the answers. We can’t get our mother back. But maybe someone else’s mother can be saved from such unnecessary death if only more people raise their voices against the callousness and carelessness prevalent in certain areas of medical care in our country.” Hansal who is currently immersed in his mother’s last rites has already consulted his lawyers. “They’re figuring out the relevant laws that apply to my mother’s negligence. We took our mother to what was supposed to be one of the best health-care facilities in Pune hoping and expecting she would be home with us after the initial treatment for cancer. That’s what we were promised. She never returned home.”