- Thursday, March 06, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
The death of a teenage football player in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu due to a botched knee surgery has triggered protests and the two doctors who performed the procedure were suspended after a probe found them guilty of medical negligence.
Priya R, 17, passed away on Tuesday (15), days after undergoing the surgery for a ligament-tear injury in her right knee.
According to officials, she died from multi-organ failure that was caused by post-surgery complications.
Deeply saddened by the unfortunate demise of Ms Priya an aspiring footballer,due to medical negligence by the doctors at govt hospital.behalf of @BJP4TamilNadu and @annamalai_k I offer my condolence & support to her family.Justice will be served.May her soul RIP. #JusticeForPriya pic.twitter.com/ygKRIDYBis
— Alisha abdullah (@alishaabdullah) November 15, 2022
The police registered a case of “unnatural death”, the Times of India daily reported.
The gross medical negligence that led to the death of football player Priya is only tip of the iceberg. No one has any idea of how many such cases occur in both Govt and private sector. There is no audit of quality of care delivery in India and death audit done is often a farce
— Sumanth Raman (@sumanthraman) November 15, 2022
Lawrence, brother of the deceased, told the newspaper that Priya, who was a state-level football player, had been complaining of pain in her legs after the surgery that took place in a hospital in state capital Chennai on November 7.
The doctors put a tourniquet, a tight compression bandage, on her leg and gave medicines, BBC Tamil reported. But Priya’s condition did not improve and she was shifted to a major state-run hospital a day later.
Tamil Nadu: Football player Priya R, who went through a surgery at govt hospital to repair ligament on her knee passed away due to multiple organ failure
And, 2 doctors of govt hospital have been suspended for alleged medical negligence
Priya's dream was to represent the nation pic.twitter.com/f6fMHd8FSk
— Anshul Saxena (@AskAnshul) November 16, 2022
There, it was found after medical tests that the tissues in Priya’s limbs were dead and there was no alternative but to amputate her leg. But her condition did not improve even after the amputation and the girl died a day after undergoing another surgery.
Priya’s family has sought the doctors’ arrest.
The death triggered an outrage in the state, forcing its government to order an inquiry.
Tamil Nadu health minister Ma Subramanian described the teenage player’s death an “irreparable loss” and said the two doctors who carried out the surgery had been found guilty of negligence.
“The surgery was fine but the compression bandage was put so tight that it stopped blood circulation,” he told reporters, adding that this affected blood flow in Priya’s leg and the veins decayed.
MK Stalin, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, has announced a monetary compensation for Priya’s family and a government job for a member of her family.
