Benevolent intervention by opposition leader

It cannot be said that all medical errors are intentional. The people at the top usually say it is a 'system error' if such things happen in government hospitals due to the large number of patients. Many people come forward to take responsibility for the treatment achievements. However, if a medical error occurs, top officials and investigators in the health department are eager to prove that it did not happen. That is not right. In this modern era, it is best to admit when you make a mistake. This is an era when many social media platforms are working tirelessly to point out and document why the mistake was made. If the government had admitted the mistake made by the hospital and taken responsibility, Pallassana native Vinodini would not have had to receive an artificial arm with the help of Opposition Leader V.D. Satheesan.

In September 2005, nine-year-old Vinodini, a native of Pallassana, fell and injured herself while playing at home. Her right arm was broken. She was taken to the district hospital but was sent back with a plaster cast. As the wound was not cleaned before the plaster was applied, Vinodini's arm became infected and had to be amputated below the elbow. The hand was amputated at Kozhikode Medical College. The government had allocated two lakhs following protests by relatives and locals. However, the opposition leader intervened after months of no action being taken by the government to fit the prosthetic hand. With this, the government had also issued an order that assistance would be provided for fitting the prosthetic hand. However, it was due to the opposition leader's intervention that Vinodini was able to get her prosthetic hand fitted.

The hand was implanted on Sunday at a private clinic in Ernakulam. The child and her parents had reached the hospital a day earlier for the procedure. After the artificial hand was implanted, Vinodini shook hands with the opposition leader using the same hand. The artificial hand that was implanted is a modern type of hand with foldable fingers. The hand will have to be changed as the child grows. The child's parents said that the opposition leader has promised to help with this as well. This artificial hand, which is worth lakhs of rupees and imported from abroad, will help Vinodini in her further studies as she can move her fingers as she pleases and hold a pen or pencil. Therefore, Vinodini is preparing to go to school in the coming days.

We should see this intervention by the opposition leader not for political gain, but as a humanitarian gesture. It is not right for the government to run away from responsibility in such incidents of medical errors. A permanent mechanism should be put in place to provide compensation or have the government bear the cost of further treatment in the event of continued occurrence of such incidents. The necessary amount for this can be paid by the government first and then recovered from the doctors who are found to have committed medical malpractice.