Pune Tragedy: Towel Left Inside Patient During Delivery Leads to Fatal Coma - Doctor Ordered to Pay ₹26.50 Lakh

A deeply shocking incident from Pune has sent shockwaves through the medical community, revealing a case of extreme negligence that cost a woman her life. During a cesarean delivery, the doctor allegedly left a surgical towel inside the patient’s abdomen in a rush to complete the procedure. What should have been a moment of joy for the family turned into a nightmare after this life-threatening oversight came to light. The woman later suffered a cardiac arrest due to complications and remained in a coma for nearly three years before passing away. After a 14-year legal battle, the State Consumer Commission has now ordered the hospital and the concerned doctor to pay ₹26.50 lakh in compensation to her family.

According to a report by the *Times of India*, Prashant Kukde, a resident of Pashan, filed a complaint with the consumer forum against Jeevandeep Medicare Centre on Sus Road and Dr. Deepalakshmi Ragde. The incident took place on August 8, 2008, when Prashant’s wife Rupali was admitted for the birth of their second child. A cesarean procedure was successfully performed, but when the doctors began stitching the incision, they realized that a towel used during the surgery had been left inside Rupali’s abdomen. The discovery triggered immediate panic in the operation theatre and set off a chain of medical emergencies.

Because of this grave error, doctors had to urgently reopen the surgical stitches to remove the towel. In the midst of this chaos, Rupali suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and her condition deteriorated rapidly, forcing the medical staff to shift her to another hospital on an emergency basis. After three days of treatment, doctors diagnosed her with encephalopathy, indicating severe brain swelling, and she was transferred to yet another medical facility for advanced care. Unfortunately, she slipped into a coma shortly after and remained unconscious for almost three years. On May 1, 2011, Rupali tragically passed away, leaving her family devastated beyond repair.

Prashant Kukde had lodged the complaint back in 2008, and the legal battle stretched on for nearly 17 years before reaching a verdict. The Pune bench of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, headed by presiding member Milind Sonawane and member Nagesh Kumbre, held the hospital and the doctor fully responsible for medical negligence and deficient service. The commission noted several serious lapses—failure to shift the patient immediately for advanced treatment despite her critical condition, delay of over six weeks in giving medical reports and discharge papers to the family, failure to protect the patient’s airway during surgery, and lack of due diligence in post-operative monitoring. The decision is expected to set an important precedent, and according to complainant’s lawyer Adv. Gnyanraj Sant, although delayed, justice has finally been served and the ruling will help ensure accountability and transparency in medical services going forward.