Kathmandu, September 14

The meeting between relatives of Kamala Bhattarai, who died after surgery at Om Hospital, and the hospital ended inconclusively today.

However, the patient’s relatives accepted the body and cremated it at Pashupati Aryaghat this evening. Bhattarai, 40, a permanent resident of Butwal, died after a surgery for her deviated nasal septum (nose) on Saturday. She died at around 1:30pm yesterday.

Irate relatives of the patient staged demonstrations accusing the hospital of negligence and have demanded closure of the hospital, action against the guilty and refund of medical expenses.

They have also demanded that the government take responsibility for the education and upbringing of her two children.

“Bhattarai’s urination had stopped and she was admitted to the intensive care unit as her blood pressure dropped. She started vomiting after 24 hours of operation and complained of chest pain. Her urine flow too stopped,” said Basanta Bhattarai, Kamala’s husband.  “We want proper investigation into her death.”

However, the hospital has decided to wait for report from the probe committee formed by the Ministry of Health before reaching any conclusion, said Bijay Pyakurel, administrative manager at the hospital.

“The hospital has paid no compensation till now,” informed Arjun Bhattarai, Kamala’s cousin. “We haven’t agreed on any amount. We will wait for the probe committee to submit its report,” informed Dr Jageshwor Gautam, director at the hospital.

The Ministry of Health has formed a five-member probe committee headed by Dr Binod Man Shrestha. Dr Bikash Devkota, one of the members of the probe committee said the committee had started its investigation.

“We are also investigating the documents provided by the hospital. All medical reports will be checked. If necessary we will also invite doctors from National Public Health Laboratory for further tests,” informed Dr Devkota. The probe committee is expected to submit its report within three to four days.