Bariatric surgery failure in Chennai raises questions over the safety of the procedure

A surgery failure in Chennai which caused the death of a woman has raised questions over the safety of bariatric surgeries, which people resort to, in order to lose weight. The patient who has been identified as A Valarmathi was a native of Keezhnaachipatti village in Tiruvannamalai district. She died at Lifeline Institute of Minimal Access in Kilpauk, while going through the process and reportedly weighed 160 kilos.

Three children of the patient had also earlier undergone the operation, but the method proved deadly for her as she died after encountering certain severe difficulties.

Valarmathi's husband Alagesan said that they had come for obesity treatment of his wife after the doctors at the hospital recommended the surgery for all four of them. They were also offered some discounts and asked to post some before and after photographs in a number of advertisements.

According to reports from Chennai, the family of the victim had spent a lot of money on the treatment of her condition. The medical treatment and procedure were all conducted under expert care. However, after the death of Valarmathi, her husband and other family members allege that medical carelessness has caused the tragedy. They have also filed an FIR for the same.

''We came for obesity treatment for my wife. Doctors said that they will do weight loss surgery for four in our family. They said that we do not have to bear all the costs and just have to pose for photographs before and after the surgery,'' said Alagesan, zeenews.india.com reported.

The woman was in the hospital for almost a month after the first phase of surgery, was declared successful. But nine more surgeries had to be conducted to treat the complications.

A case under section 174 of CrPC (suspicious death) has been registered by the state police and the body moved to the government hospital for autopsy.