In a blatant case of medical negligence, the X-ray of a 33-year-old woman from Hyderabad showed a pair of surgical scissors inside her stomach. The incident came to light on Friday evening after C Maheshwari was admitted to Hyderabad’s Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), following complaint of severe stomach pain.

Maheshwari’s family believed that she was experiencing severe stomach pain as a result of a surgery she underwent three months ago and took her to NIMS, where doctors discovered the scissors upon examination. She had undergone a hernia operation at the hospital when the scissors were left behind.

After this discovery, NIMS officials have stated that the patient’s surgery to remove the scissors would be done free of cost. A case of negligence has been filed under sections 336, 337 of the IPC at Panjagutta police station. The woman’s family has accused the hospital management of trying to hush up the case.

Maheshwari was admitted for a hernia operation on October 30, 2018 and underwent the same on November 2. She was later discharged on November 12. While she had been complaining of intermittent abdominal pain, it was thought to be due to the surgery and was not taken seriously until Friday night when the woman complained of excruciating pain and was rushed to NIMS. Various tests and an X-ray showed a pair of scissors inside her body. The family has complained to the hospital Resident Medical Officer against the surgeon who conducted the procedure.

Earlier in December, family members of a patient who had undergone treatment at another hospital in the city, ransacked the building alleging medical negligence on the part of the doctors. She had reportedly been undergoing treatment for a lung disorder when she succumbed to the same. The woman’s family attempted to attack doctors and staff members and vandalised the hospital after being told of the woman’s death. Police personnel had to be called in to control the situation.