Royapettah Hospital: They attempted suicide with cleaning acid...

Republic Day 2007 was celebrated by a group of patients who survived a suicide attempt (they tried to kill themselves by drinking concentrated cleaning acid) at the Government Royapettah Hospital in Chennai.

There were patients from Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Madurai and other places. Some have recovered sufficiently after surgery by Dr. S.M.Chandramohan and his team, to be able to eat routinely. Normally, the upper gut is rendered useless after consuming acid and it is impossible for these patients to eat normally. Surgery has worked a miracle for them.

Some of them spoke out on their experiences and rued their moment of weakness when they tried to commit suicide with acid. Now, their families are left with the searing pain of caring for someone who has been severely crippled; in the worst cases, people who cannot eat and must be fed with some nutrients directly into the system.



Dr. Chandramohan paid glowing tribute to all medical teams who had assisted in making the hospital's work a big success. Certificates were distributed to the departments of anaesthesiology, oncology, pathology, medical gastroenterology, intensive care, orthopaedics, ENT, nursing, radiology and others.

The Health Secretary Mr. V.K.Subburaj was there, and so was the Director of Medical Education (in-charge). There was some talk of expanding GRH, and putting up new buildings. For the thousands of people who depend on this suburban hospital that is located in a congested part of the city, good facilities will not come a day too early.

But then, they live in a country that is increasingly veering away from the ideal of free, universal healthcare access with high quality standards...