Home · Health · Sep 6 archive
Family Alleges Needle Left in Child’s Body at Kerala Hospital
Developing
In Short: A one-year-old girl from Kerala had a needle found in her body, with her parents alleging it was left behind during treatment at Kottayam Medical College Hospital.
A one-year-old girl from Kerala’s Kozhikode had to undergo surgery after a needle was found near her right ribs, according to reports. Her parents alleged that the needle may have been left behind during treatment at Kottayam Medical College Hospital in 2025.
The needle was detected in July 2026 during a detailed examination at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, and was subsequently removed through surgery. Doctors told the family that the needle appeared to have been inside the child’s body for a long time.
Anju, the child’s mother, said she had noticed a pointed object near the child’s body in photographs taken around the time of the NICU admission. The family said the child had not undergone any other surgery or prolonged hospital admission during the intervening year.
The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has registered a case over the allegations, and a three-member medical panel has been appointed to investigate. The commission will also seek reports from the district police chief and hospital superintendent as part of its inquiry.
What's confirmed
- The committee will examine the allegations raised by the child's family in detail.
What's still developing
- Patient Tim Andrews (centre) with Dr Tatsuo Kawai (left) and Dr Leonardo Riella (right) A kidney transplanted from a pig has worked inside a patient for 271 days – the longest on record, say US doctors.
- Tim Andrews said the transplant gave him "hope" and spared him months of needing to go to hospital to have his blood filtered by a dialysis machine.
- The team at Mass General Brigham hospital say their work shows pig organs can be used as a "bridge" until a human transplant becomes available.
- "Hope is the biggest thing, the chance to be free from the [dialysis] machine and live your life." Tim Andrews preparing for surgery in January 2025 The donor kidney had been harvested from a genetically modified pig to make it suitable for human donation Surgeons attached the pig kidney to the blood vessels inside Tim Andrews' body so the organ could filter the blood.
- An emotional Tim Andrews and his wife Karen share an embrace while leaving Massachusetts General Hospital on Feb 1, 2025 But you cannot just pop down to the farm and take a kidney from a pig and put it into a person.
- “However, doctors told us that it was a minor growth that would subside with treatment. The child continued to experience pain and frequently cried, but doctors told us that such discomforts were common among infants,” she said.
- According to the PTI report, the superintendent has assigned a deputy superintendent to conduct the inquiry and ascertain who was on duty during the relevant period and what happened while the child was undergoing treatment in the NICU.
- Also Read:Patient dies after allegedly receiving expired IV fluid at NMMC Hospital, 3 staff suspended Kajal Rajput joined Medical Dialogues as an Correspondent for the Latest Health News Section in 2019.
Sources
- Medical Dialogues link