Kerala Health Minister Veena George responded to the discovery of a surgical instrument inside a patient’s abdomen five years post-surgery. The patient, Usha Joseph from Kerala, had the instrument found during an X-ray after undergoing surgery in May 2021 for a uterine tumor at Alappuzha Vandanam Medical College. Despite years of pain and complications post-surgery, the foreign object was only recently detected.
Dr. Lalithambika, allegedly linked to the surgery, denied conducting the procedure on Usha. She suggested that the instrument might have been left behind during one of Usha’s previous surgeries, emphasizing systemic lapses over individual fault. Usha, however, claimed that the surgery at Vandanam Medical College was her only operation and that her symptoms were dismissed as kidney stones until the recent X-ray revealed the scissors.
Usha’s family plans to take legal action as she endured years of pain, facing medical expenses and inability to work regularly. An expert panel will investigate the incident to establish accountability and review surgical safety protocols at the state-run institution.
