Chennai, March 6 (IANS): The Tamil Nadu government on Monday made public records of Apollo Hospitals here and AIIMS in New Delhi to show that Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa got the best medical treatment till she died.
“Certain insinuations have been made that administration of wrong drugs over a period of time prior to hospitalisation had led to health complications for the late Chief Minister,” J. Radhakrishnan, Principal Secretary in the Health and Family Welfare Department said in a statement here.
He said in order to put to rest needless speculation vis-a-vis her hospitalisation, treatment and death, the government decided to make public the discharge summary received from Apollo Hospitals and the medical reports from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Earlier in the day, the AIIMS handed over its documents related to Jayalalithaa to the Tamil Nadu government.
Jayalalithaa died at the Apollo Hospitals on December 5 after 75 days of being admitted with multiple complications.
The statement said an Apollo Hospital ambulance found that Jayalalithaa was breathless with low oxygen saturation resulting in drowsiness at about 10 p.m. on September 22.
She was admitted to Apollo and diagnosed to be suffering from infection and dehydration, accompanied by respiratory distress.
“There were pre-existing co-morbidities like diabetes, hypertension, asthmatic bronchitis and hypothyroidism, but clearly the treatment report of Apollo Hospitals as well as of AIIMS do not mention any evidence of trauma or any other event as alleged by certain political leaders,” said Radhakrishnan.
These allegations surface amid a major row that led to a split in the AIADMK, with supporters of former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam alleging foul play leading to Jayalalithaa’s death.
AIADMK leader and former Speaker P.H. Pandian had alleged that Jayalalithaa was pushed down at her residence and demanded a probe in the circumstances leading to her hospitalisation.
According to Radhakrishnan, while in hospital, Jayalalithaa responded well to the multi-disciplinary care in the Critical Care Unit.
“(She) interacted with family and government officials on some important issues including the Cauvery issue,” he said.
Radhakrishnan said Jayalalithaa’s clinical course deteriorated later and subsequently recovered substantially for her to resume taking food orally.
Jayalalithaa was then shifted from the Critical Care Unit to the High Dependency Unit where her health and vitals continued to improve under the close monitoring by experts, he said.
All this was brought out in the reports of the AIIMS teams which visited Chennai in October and December.
He said the AIIMS reports have “consistently concurred” with the line of treatment provided at Apollo.
Radhakrishnan said Jayalalithaa suffered a massive cardiac arrest on the evening of December 4.
She was administered resuscitation and provided Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) support within the hour.
“Every possible clinical attempt was made to sustain her revival as per prescribed medical protocols.
“A team of doctors, including experts from Apollo and AIIMS, assessed the situation.
“It was clinically concluded that there was no heart function and there was also no neurological improvement denoting futility of life support,” Radhakrishnan said.
Hence, after following all procedures, the position was conveyed to senior ministers and then Chief Minister Panneerselvam, Health Minister Vijayabhaskar and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha M. Thambidurai as well as her confidante V.K. Sasikala.
“All of them understood the situation and asked the medical team to act as per the standard protocol. “The Chief Minister passed away at 11.30 p.m. on 5.12.2016.”
