Woman spends Rs 15 L on treatment in Bali, finds operation was botched

Neha Sharma had to undergo several surgeries in Bali after the near-fatal accident

The suffering of PR firm employee Neha Sharma refuses to end. After she ended 2018 at a hospital in Bali following a near-fatal car accident and spent Rs 15 lakh on medical treatment, she returned home only to find out that her doctors in Indonesia had botched a surgery. Sharma got to know about this after being moved to the Hiranandani hospital, where she underwent a corrective procedure last Thursday.

Sharma, 32, was receiving medical care in Bali after an accident on December 29 killed the driver of the car she was in and injured her and her friend Nupoor Sinha. Speaking to mid-day, she said, "Due to the accident, I suffered three major fractures - on my left leg, right wrist and fingers. I underwent a seven-hour operation in Balimed hospital on December 30, 2018. Later, I was told that I need for surgeries on my face. For all of them, I spent around Rs 15 lakh as I didn't have travel insurance," said Neha.

Neha Sharma (on bed), with friend Nupoor Sharma, who'd gone to Bali with her

Partially botched
mid-day reported on January 5 in 'PR firm employee stuck in Bali after major mishap' how Sharma was forced to stay on the Indonesian island without any travel insurance and precious little help from the Indian consulate there. All she got from them was a letter that would help with her medical insurance claim back home.

Sharma was finally brought back to India by her friends on January 6 and admitted to the Dr LH Hiranandani hospital for further treatment, where a shock revelation awaited her - the surgery done on her leg in Bali was partially botched.

Sharma said, "In the surgery conducted on me at the Balimed hospital, a tissue that needed to be joined properly in my leg was left loose. As soon as doctors at Hiranandani hospital saw my X-ray, they decided to operate on my leg again." The corrective procedure was conducted last Thursday and Sharma is recovering at the hospital now.

Wrote to consulate
Meanwhile, she wrote to the Indian consulate in Bali on Monday, asking them to take action against the Balimed hospital. She wrote in the letter, "I wanted to bring to your notice that my treatment in Bali, which cost me more than 300 mn IDR (Rs 15 lakh) was partially botched by the orthopedic surgeon, Dr Kurnia at Balimed hospital. X-rays of my thigh detected an issue with the surgery and I had to be operated again in Mumbai at Dr LH Hiranandani hospital. All of this has not only cost me heavily financially but has also scarred me mentally for life, with very little financial standing." Sharma also alleged in the letter that the hospital management charged her higher than what they would have charged an Indonesian national.

When mid-day contacted Rajkumar, the vice consul of the Indian consulate in Bali, he said, "I won't be able to comment on it on the phone. Send me an e-mail and I will look into it." At the time of going to publication, neither had the consulate responded to Sharma, nor had they replied to mid-day's e-mail.

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