Two months after he underwent a surgery to increase his height by three inches, 22-year-old Dheeraj wants to stop the procedure.
On April 5, software professional Dheeraj (name changed) underwent a surgery at Global Hospitals in Hyderabad hoping to have his height increased by three inches. But faced with the prospect of two more months of severe pain after the surgery, Dheeraj wants out.
Dheeraj’s father Madhusudan has conveyed his son’s wishes to the hospital. “My son is unable to bear the pain. We told the doctors that he wants to discontinue the treatment.”
Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Chandra Bhushan, however, emailed back saying they wanted a video recording of their decision. They were supposed to come on Friday to collect it, but there has been no news from the hospital doctors, Madhusudan says.
“The doctor said that my son had a successful one-inch increase in height. But in reality it is just a one-inch gap in bones that exists now. So we decided to give the video consent to the doctors and stop the treatment,” Madhusudan alleged. “The doctors are being negligent even now. They should immediately come and stop the treatment.”
In a media conference on Saturday, Dheeraj alleged that his doctors had not provided him with complete information about the surgery. “I wish I had been explained all the possibilities before the surgery. I trusted the doctors as they claimed they had performed similar surgeries earlier, but they lied to me,” Dheeraj alleged.
Dheeraj claimed that the doctors lied to him when he met them a year ago. “They said there would be no complications: I would be able to walk in two days and that there would be some pain. But this is terrible and it’s been two months now.”
He said that he was now taking three different painkillers a day. “Other doctors I consulted said taking so many pain killers could create other health issues in future but doctors at Global are advising me to continue them,” Dheeraj alleged.
He added that he lost his job as he couldn’t not move his legs. “I took two weeks leave from work thinking that I would be able to walk in two days. But I can’t even talk because of the pain and I’ve lost my job. I won’t be able to walk for another 60 days. My father is a businessman but is spending most of his time looking after me, and has incurred losses.”
Had he known about these possibilities, Dheeraj says he would’ve taken a second opinion on the surgery.
The family has already lodged a case of cheating in Saidabad police station. “We have approached the human rights commission and the Medical Council of India against Global Hospitals. We’ve decided to fight against the hospital in every way,” Dheeraj said.