A German national Teresa Poehlmann who underwent some tests at the Holy Family Hospital in Bandra, Mumbai following acute pain in the abdomen, was left shocked with the results



Representational pic

A German national Teresa Poehlmann who underwent some tests at the Holy Family Hospital in Bandra following acute pain in the abdomen, was left shocked with the results.

According to a story in Mumbai Mirror, the reports mentioned that her gallbladder was fine. However, the problem with that was that the woman did not have a gallbladder as she had undergone a surgery to remove the same eight years ago. Poehlmann (33) informed the same to the doctors who then, rather strangely, prescribed her medicines to remove gallbladder stones.

The Mumbai Mirror report added that the hospital issued Poehlmann an apology while the latter filed a complaint with the Maharashtra Medical Council. “I checked into the Holy Family Hospital on November 23 after experiencing a sudden, unbearable pain in the abdomen. I was attended to by Dr Bryan Sodder, who recommended that I get admitted as he suspected kidney stones or a pancreatic inflation. After a series of tests, including an ultra-sonography, they told me my gallbladder was functioning fine and I was like, ‘where did you find one?,” Poehlmann told Mumbai Mirror.

Poehlmann’s gallbladder had been taken out in a German hospital after stones had formed in it. “I had told them at the time of admission that I didn’t have a gallbladder. It was mentioned while they noted down my medical history. Despite this, they prescribed medicines to remove gallbladder stones. I was so scared, I took discharge despite doctors trying to convince me to stay,” she further told the paper.

The Mumbai Mirror report further said that the goof-up was the result of a printing problem. “The print report was pre-formatted and they didn’t not remove the gallbladder part from the paragraph,” the hospital note read.

Dr Armida Fernandez, the hospital’s medical director told Mumbai Mirror, “After the patient complained, I personally inquired and found that the error was made by a clerk in the Imaging Department. All our reports are printed on preformatted sheets and the clerk should have removed the mention of gallbladder. We immediately rectified the error and issued a fresh report. There is no question of wrong medication as the patient took discharge from the hospital even before the treatment could start. It was a human error, and we ensure best possible treatment for all our patients.”