Shocking: 2,200 women lose uterus to greedy doctors of 4 hospitals

Kalaburgi, Feb 7: Thousands of women staged a daylong protest outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner here on Monday demanding criminal action against hospitals and doctors who performed unwarranted hysterectomies, and compensation to the victims.

Nearly 2,200 women belonging to the Lambani and dalit communities lost their uteruses to doctors, who carried out the operations to inflate bills in four private hospitals in Kalaburagi district.

The racket was busted in August 2015. A health department inquiry detailed the many violations committed by the doctors. Despite the inquiry committee cancelling their licences in October 2015, these Kalaburagi hospitals continue to function.

Women who visited the hospitals for treatment of minor ailments like stomach pain were told their uteruses were infected and were advised hysterectomies.

The report filed by the health department says, "Most of the women had vague lower abdominal pain and backache, for which they approached doctors in the hospitals. They were subjected to ultrasound examination and were given medication for a short period. During subsequent visits, without subjecting the women to further evaluation, women who failed to get any relief were told that they would develop cancer of the uterus if they do not undergo a hysterectomy. This particular sequence of events was the same in most cases..."

Four hospitals

The expert committee constituted by the Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare in October 2015, had indicted four hospitals — Girish Noola Surgical & Maternity Hospital, Basava Hospital, L.M. Care Hospital, and Sudha Memorial Smruti Maternity & Surgical Nursing Home — for violating various sections of the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act (KPME) 2007 and Rules 2009.

Another enquiry committee appointed by the Karnataka State Women Commission recommended criminal cases against the doctors and pay compensation to the victims.

Deputy Commissioner Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh has suspended the licence of the hospitals for six months.

He has also written to Karnataka Medical Council on January 23, 2017, recommending disciplinary action against Dr. Girish Noola and Dr. Smita Noola, who conducted over 600 hysterectomies in two years violating laws and professional ethics. However, there was no response from the KMC so far. The activists, however, allege that the indicted hospitals and doctors continued to function under different names.