BJP angry with Apollo Hospital for `botching up’ Thakre’s surgery

However, after a few weeks, Thakre complained of constant pain and was then taken to Ganga Ram Hospital where it was discovered that the spot where the angiography was done was bleeding and had developed a swelling.

The Doppler test for blood clots, done at the Ganga Ram Hospital, also showed that Thakre had developed a clot. The clot was surgically removed last Wednesday. Said the doctor who did the surgery: “Had Thakre not come to us in time, he might have lost the leg. This is something like a heart-attack in the leg — when the blood supply just stops, we are forced to amputate the leg.”

Ganga Ram Hospital chairman S K Sama said: “In the case of Thakre, we corrected a problem that is known to happen. We treated the complication that he developed after the angiography at Apollo Hospital.”

Thakre’s staff is furious. Says his secretary Tarwinder Singh: “They (Apollo) should have at least told us that there was a blood clot. They said he was normal and could go home. He was discharged as if there was nothing wrong with him.”

According to Singh, the chairman and managing director of Apollo Hospital, Pratap Reddy, came to Thakre’s residence to “apologise for the lapse.” “He said that it could have been a mistake and he would check it up,” Singh said. The Delhi BJP unit is particularly upset. Said Delhi BJP president Mange Ram Garg: “We gave Apollo Hospital land for a nominal price of Rs 1 per acre, from the side of the Delhi Government we put Rs 50 crore in the project and this is what they do to our national president!”

Reddy could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. Director of the Hospital in Delhi R K Takkar said he knew of the incident but would have to talk to the doctor who treated Thakre before he could comment on the case. A doctor at the Apollo explained why Thakre could have been discharged in January without mentioning the blood clot. “There are two approaches to the treatment. One is conservative, where we wait and see. The second is aggressive, where one operates and removes the clot. We chose to be conservative,” he said. Added a Ganga Ram doctor: “It had to be done through what is known as peripheral vascular surgery. If the Apollo doctors did not do it, they cannot be blamed, because this surgery is not common in India.” The complications due to angiography, doctors in Apollo Hospital say, are “nothing strange, especially because Thakre has a history of diabetes, obesity etc.”

The Delhi Health Minister A K Walia said he would look into the matter and “order an inquiry if necessary.” Thakre is at present in the intensive care unit of the Ganga Ram Hospital.