Gujarat Doctor Charged For Leaving Cotton Swab Inside Woman's Stomach

A doctor of a government hospital in Jambusar in the Bharuch district of Gujarat was booked for medical negligence. Dr Charmi Ahir was accused of leaving a cotton swab in a woman's stomach after she underwent a caesarean surgery to give birth to a boy. The woman, Amisha Solanki, underwent the surgery in September last year and soon after that complained of stomach ache. However, Dr Ahir has filed a case against the husband of the woman, Shailesh Solanki, for defaming her and her hospital and has demanded Rs 50 lakhs as compensation. 

As per the reports, Amisha was admitted to a sub-district hospital in Jambusar, where her parents lived, on September 23, 2023 and was operated upon by Dr Ahir. She gave birth to a baby boy through caesarean. 

Amisha complained of stomach ache post-delivery

However, as per police inspector AV Panmiya of Jambusar police station, she complained of stomach ache soon after the discharge. As a result, she was taken to the hospital where doctors gave her some medicines and sent her back home. 

But the pain persisted. Then, Amisha's husband took her to a private hospital run by Dr Tushar Patel in Jambusar where she received temporary relief from pain after taking some medicines. 

Inspector Panmiya said, "The doctors gave her medicines and she got temporary relief from the pain. Amisha then returned to her in-laws’ place in Surat. After a few days, she again complained of stomach ache. Shailesh then took her to Shyona Diagnostic Centre at Katargam where she underwent tests like sonography and CT scan. The reports showed there was a cotton swab in her stomach." 

How the couple confronted Dr Ahir with reports of cotton swab inside Amisha's stomach

Then, on November 22, 2023, the couple confronted Dr Ahir with the reports of a cotton swab inside Amisha's stomach. Dr Ahir allegedly asked Amisha to undergo an operation at the SSG hospital to get the swab removed. 

But when the couple reached the SSG hospital, they didn't get a positive response from the doctor. 

Eventually, Amisha was admitted to Yashoda Hospital in Surat on November 28, 2023 where the cotton swab was removed from her stomach through surgery. Following this, Shailesh Solanki filed a police complaint against Dr Ahir at the Jambusar police station. The police booked Dr Ahir under Section 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code on Sunday this year. 

Inspector Panmiya told the media outlet, "We have registered an offence on the basis of Shailesh Solanki’s statements and the medical papers he had submitted to us. We have also taken advice from SSG hospital before registering the offence. We have started recording the statements of Ahir as well as doctors at SSG hospital and in Surat.”

Whereas Shailesh said that he has sent a legal notice to Dr Ahir asking her to pay all the medical bills he incurred. If she fails to do so, he will be taking legal action against her. 

Dr Ahir to take legal actions

On the other hand, Dr Ahir, through her lawyers Vibhuti Panchal and Dhrupeshkumar Mistry, has also sent a legal notice to Shailesh demanding Rs 50 lakh in compensation for her defamation. She has also accused him of leaking the matter to the media, causing damage to her and her hospital's reputation. Moreover, she claimed that all the allegations made against her were baseless.  

Dr Ahir's lawyer Vibhuti Panchal said, “Dr Charmi Ahir received a notice from Shailesh Solank, in which he has accused her of negligence in her duty. We have replied to the notice and denied all allegations. We have also said that the image of Dr Ahir and the hospital has been damaged and we may file a defamation case… Though as of now, we are yet to file any defamation complaint.”