'Government doctors never consulted on Jayalalithaa's treatment,' says panel

A high-level team of government doctors constituted to assist the team that treated the then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa during her 75-day hospitalisation in 2016 has revealed that it was “never consulted” by doctors at Apollo Hospitals and was made to wait in the “duty resting room”, according to the Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission.

The members of the panel – Dr R Vimala, Dr R Narayana Babu, Dr R Muthuselvan, Dr B Kala, Dr S Titto, and Dr P Dharmarajan – told the Commission during their deposition that they got updates about the health of Jayalalithaa only through the news on private television channels.

“It is unfortunate that (the doctors) have stated in their evidence that they were never consulted by the Apollo hospital Management or the doctors for any assistance. They have further stated that they were made to wait only in the duty–resting-room on turn basis,” the retired justice wrote in his voluminous report, concluding that only a small group of doctors, in consultation with Jayalalithaa’s aide V K Sasikala, took all decisions.

The team did not have any opportunity to see, examine, or assist the doctors who were treating Jayalalithaa. However, the doctors said they were allowed to meet government officials and ministers in the hospital, who were in attendance on all days by rotation.

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The then Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao told the Commission that the nature of treatment given to Jayalalithaa was known only to the Apollo doctors and the records pertaining to the treatment were available only with the hospital and Sasikala.

The report stated Jayalalithaa, who regained consciousness hours after she was wheeled into the hospital, was recovering well till September 28 night when her health suffered a serious setback. She was then put on a ventilator and tracheostomy was performed on her on October 7, 2016.

Justice Arumughaswamy said he has “great reservations” about the treatment provided by Apollo Hospitals and why it did not consider a lifesaving heart surgery on Jayalalithaa who was diagnosed with vegetation more than 10 mm.

“The Commission strongly records that deliberately no Thoracic surgeon was allowed to visit her and if any Thoracic surgeon had seen her, definitely an angiogram would have been recommended and also performed. The doubts of the Commission are genuine. These procedures have been accepted by the AIIMS doctors and Apollo doctors during their examination,” he said.

It also noted the opinion of Dr Ram Gopalkrishnan of Apollo Hospitals who proposed an early valve surgery on Jayalalithaa after examining her on September 28. The Commission said it is not known as to why the doctor’s opinion did not find favour with the Apollo Hospital and that the said physician was never called again to treat Jayalalithaa.

During her deposition, J Krishnapriya, Jayalalithaa’s niece, told the Commission that her aunt never agreed to travel abroad for treatment, which was also echoed by Jayalalithaa’s personal physician Dr K S Sivakumar.

The Commission, in its report, has found faults with V K Sasikala, Sivakumar, the then Health Minister C Vijayabaskar, and Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan for not acting on advice of doctors, including the suggestion to perform an angiogram and a cardiac surgery on Jayalalithaa.