The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) demanded an impartial and immediate inquiry into the death of a patient which was allegedly caused by the administration of carbon dioxide (CO2) at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL), Colombo.
The 62-year-old from Nugegoda, who was reportedly admitted to the hospital for breast cancer surgery, died last week due to the alleged administration of high levels of carbon dioxide. Health trade unions alleged that post-surgery, the patient was mistakenly given carbon dioxide instead of oxygen. Following the incident, Health Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana has called for a report from the Director of the NHSL on the death of the patient.
Against this backdrop, speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (4), GMOA Spokesperson Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe said that they demand an impartial and immediate investigation into the incident with the support of experts in order to clarify allegations made by various parties on many grounds. When he was queried on the allegations made regarding the cause of death, he said that most allegations including the administration of carbon dioxide are assumptions, and that therefore, no one should make premature comments until the reality is disclosed by a proper inquiry.
“As we know, carbon dioxide is used in some surgeries like laparoscopy. Otherwise, it is not used largely in surgeries. At the same time, no one knows whether the patient died due to complications during surgery or after surgery. Almost all comments that are being made regarding the incident are assumptions. That is why an immediate inquiry is required,” he said.
Dr. Wijesinghe further said that the Ministry of Health should make the public aware of such incidents once they receive reports of the inquiries since such incidents might damage public trust placed on the country’s free healthcare system, as incidents related to medical negligence have continuously been reported. He also said that justice should be done for the affected parties of this particular incident and that health professionals and workers, including doctors, must be cautious when taking these incidents as examples.
Several attempts made by The Daily Morning to contact Minister Pathirana and the Secretary to the Ministry to inquire about the said investigation, which was reportedly launched by the Ministry, proved futile.