Saifee Hospital Blames Misled Media For Eman Controversy
Mumbai’s Saifee Hospital, which was in the eye of a storm after the Egyptian patient Eman Ahmed’s bariatric (weight loss) surgery, denied any wrongdoing and said it was a series of misleading reports in the media, which got carried away with wrong information spread by interested parties, that led to the whole controversy. This may negatively impact India’s reputation as an attractive medical tourism destination, said a senior hospital executive at Saifee Hospital
“The treatment that was promised to the Egyptian patient was successfully completed earlier than expected and the hospital had advised her on post-discharge medical follow-ups, including physiotherapy and occasional consultation visits,” said Huzaifa Shehabi, chief operating officer, Saifee Hospital, in an exclusive interview with BW Businessworld.
India, which is currently known for its low-cost healthcare and medical prowess, has been attracting a lot of foreign patients. The country is also being projected as the attractive medical tourism destination and healthcare has been identified as a sector that can attract foreign exchange. Several large public and private sector hospitals, including Saifee Hospital, currently treat several hundreds of foreign patients.
According to Shehabi, the media got carried away with certain malicious propaganda fired by interested parties and they didn’t try to verify the truth with the doctors or the hospital. "And by the time the media realised the mistake, it was late," he added.
"This kind of unfortunate events, mainly caused by misleading reports in the media, can affect the reputation of the country's medical community for the time being, though people will realise the truth later," said Dr Hiren Ambegaokar, regional medical director (South and West) at Fortis Hospital, India's second largest corporate hospital chain.
Eman Ahmed, an obese patient who weighed 500 kg, was flown into Mumbai for the surgery at Saifee Hospital, under bariatric surgeon Dr Muffazal Lakdawala in February. The in-patient treatment at the hospital, mainly the surgery to reduce her weight, was supposed to be completed in five months. However, the patient responded to the treatment much early and the medical team at the Hospital could reduce Eman’s weight to 176 kg in three months.
“While the patient was advised for discharge from the hospital after achieving the weight loss, which was the treatment goal, her relatives were not ready to take her home as they were expecting the patient to walk,” narrates Shehabi.
In April, Eman's sister Shaimaa uploaded a critical video online, accusing Dr Lakdawala of giving up the case asking the patient to leave despite her sick condition. Eman had seizures and she wasn’t still able to move from her bed, which was lifted along with the patient from Cairo in an Egypt Air plane modified to fly her. The Mumbai hospital had arranged a first-floor room for this obese patient, who was claimed to be the world’s heaviest woman.
The doctor defended himself saying that he had fulfilled his promise of reducing Eman's weight until she could sit up on her own.
“Eman was bedridden for long due to her overweight and had already developed several other complications, including seizures and throat paralysis and the violent cough. But with the weight reduction, all these complications can be minimised slowly for which a hospital stay is not required,” says Shehabi.
These complications, though not in the scope of bariatric surgery, the medical team at Saifee was hopeful of her gradual recovery through physiotherapy and other medical follow-ups for which hospitalisation was not necessary. Eman was treated free of cost by the hospital as it offered the same due to reasons, including a medical help to the suffering patient and also to provide its medical fraternity exposure to such unique cases with an academic interest
Post the fallout between Eman’s relatives and the Indian hospital, the patient was moved to an Abu Dhabi hospital, which offered to treat Eman further.
“We have provided all medical records on Eman’s surgery to prove our sincere and successful effort and also to help her further treatment back home for the other complications,” said Saifee hospital COO, adding that that although Egyptian media and authorities realised the truth and appreciated the efforts of the medical team at Saifee Hospital led by Dr Lakdawala, the negative reporting by a section of Indian media helped only to negate India’s credibility as a preferred destination for medical tourism.
