Police register cases against four doctors in Kerala's Alappuzha after baby born with severe deformities

Alappuzha South Police registered cases against four doctors, including two gynecologists, for allegedly failing to detect severe disabilities in a newborn despite multiple prenatal scans.

Alappuzha: The Alappuzha South Police registered cases against four doctors following an incident involving a newborn with severe disabilities in Alappuzha. The accused include two gynecologists, Dr. Shirley and Dr. Pushpa, from the Alappuzha Women's and Children's Hospital, along with two doctors from a private laboratory.

The newborn has been diagnosed with several disabilities, including misaligned ears and eyes, an inability to open the mouth, a tongue that retracts when lying on its back, and deformities in the legs and arms. The mother claims that despite multiple prenatal scans, the doctors failed to identify these disabilities before birth. 

The family has filed a formal complaint with the Chief Minister. In response, the health department director has requested a report from the District Medical Officer (DMO), who has instructed the superintendent of the Alappuzha Women's and Children's Hospital to submit an urgent preliminary investigation report. The superintendent is expected to provide this report soon.

In the meantime, Dr. Pushpa has denied the allegations, explaining that she only treated the mother during the first two months of her pregnancy. According to her, it is difficult to detect such disabilities during this early stage. She clarified that such conditions are typically identified by the fifth month, a period when the mother was no longer under her care, as stated in her comments to Asianet News.