Karnataka: Constable seeks justice for mother’s death

HUBBALLI: Shakuntala Ramesh Belakoppa, 58, who tested Covid positive on May 9 breathed her last owing to medical complications. She was admitted to Karnataka Institute of Medical Science (KIMS), Hubballi and undergoing treatment for Covid-19.
Her son, 33-year old Somesh Ramesh Belakoppa, a head constable attached to Hubballi-Dharwad police Commissionerate, has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, chief minister B S Yediyurappa and others seeking justice as he blames medical negligence for his mother’s death.“The doctors could have saved her if they had given proper and timely treatment,’’ he wrote.
Somesh, a noted writer in Kannada who goes by the pen name Somu Reddy, has also sent letters to Union minister Pralhad Joshi, health minister Dr K Sudhakar and Dharwad deputy commissioner seeking justice.
Normally doctors administer low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), a blood thinner injection to Covid patients to avoid blood clotting and to improve oxygen level. But on that day, Somesh alleged that the doctors administered normal heparin injection and entered in the patient’s medical record as LMWH. “If they had told us we could have arranged one from a private medical shop,’’ he added
When contacted, KIMS director Dr Ramalingappa Antaratani said that since they had no stock of LMWH, they were forced to administer normal heparin injection, which is an alternative, since she was critical and on ventilator. However, the doctors had incorrectly entered it as LMWH. “We had provided all possible treatment and tried our best to save her. The constable is blaming us only because we made a wrong entry,” he added.