Kozhikode Medical College denies implant mix-up allegation

Kozhikode: The authorities at Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) have refuted allegations made by a man who filed a police complaint claiming that an implant intended for another patient was incorrectly inserted into his broken hand.

Dr Jacob Mathew, Head of the Orthopaedics Department at MCH, described the allegation as completely baseless. He clarified that the patient received the standard treatment and surgery appropriate for his condition. Since the fracture was located below the elbow, a plate was inserted following a thorough examination and surgery. The joint below the fracture was unstable, so an additional rod was temporarily placed for four weeks to stabilise it. This rod will be removed later, but the initial plate will remain. There was no switching of rods; the same standard procedure applied to other patients was followed in this case. The surgery was successful, he added.

According to Dr Mathew, X-rays of other patients who underwent similar surgeries for such fractures at the medical college this month serve as evidence. He urged that false allegations spreading misinformation about the medical college should not be made without understanding the facts.