22-year-old girl dies of hospital negligence

KATHMANDU: A 22-year-old girl died during treatment in Dhangadhi of Kailali.

Laxmi Joshi of Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City-1, Shivanagar died on Monday night during treatment at Nisarga Hospital.

Laxmi, who was undergoing treatment at the hospital due to stomach pain, passed away.

According to the deceased’s relative, Nandaraj Joshi, Laxmi was working as a Health Assistant (HA) at Navjeevan Hospital in Dhangadhi.

“Yesterday, after returning from duty, she started experiencing stomach pain. Subsequently, she was taken to the nearby Nature Hospital where she was examined. After receiving medication, she returned home around 8 PM. However, as the pain persisted, she was admitted to the hospital again,” he said.

Further treatments included administering various medications to alleviate her pain upon readmission to the hospital. Despite her mother’s objections to increasing the dosage of pain-relieving medications, the hospital reportedly did not comply.

Nand Joshi quotes his mother, who was a nurse, saying, “Her pain didn’t relieve. The staff there refused to evacuate her. Suddenly her health deteriorated, and doctors were called. Later, doctors declared Laxmi dead.”

Dr. Om Prakash Bhatta has agreed to take action against this. Dr. Bhatta has agreed to dismiss the nurse from the hospital, send a letter to the Medical Council for action, and agree to send a public notice to the district police office against the doctor.

Bhatta says the patient died due to wrong drug use. When the doctor’s negligence led to the patient’s death, the staff staged a protest at the hospital all day on Tuesday.