A husband (47) and a 15-year-old daughter of a 38-year-old woman who died due to alleged medical negligence at the Durdans Hospital in Colombo filed a lawsuit against the hospital and the gynecologist and obstetrician who performed a surgery into an ovarian cyst of the deceased woman, claiming Rs.14.6 million as loss and damages. 

Filing two separate petitions before Colombo District Court, the first plaintiff Galagedarage Upali Gunatilake a resident of Thunmodara stated that his wife Dayani Hemamala died due to medical negligence of the gynecologist and obstetrician Prof. Harshalal Seneviratne who performed a surgery into an ovarian cyst of his wife on April 2012 at Durdans hospital.

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He further stated that his wife’s condition started to deteriorate even after the second operation was performed. He said doctors in the hospital accepted the fact that her intestines had been damaged (cut) due to the surgery and it would take a long time to heal. He stated that the first operation was performed at the private hospital on April 4, 2012 while the second operation was performed on April 10. He alleged the patient had been transferred to the Colombo South Teaching Hospital in Kalubowila without any request either from the patient or the guardian on April 18. He said his wife died on April 23 while receiving treatment at the Kalubowila hospital due to the medical negligence of the hospital and Prof. Seneviratne. 

Meanwhile, the second plaintiff Sanduni Rashmika Gunatilake (15) the daughter of the deceased stated that she was detained in the custody of the private hospital until the bill involving her mother’s hospitalization was settled. She stated that she was deprived of the consortium and comfort of a mother due to untimely death of her mother. She further said that she had to undergo mental depression (hurt to feeling) as she was kept under hospital custody until the hospital bill was settled. 

The Colombo District Court issued notices to the defendants returnable for October 10.