Balwant Singh Hospital says removal of woman’s organs was necessary to save her life

Apr 07, 2023 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

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Kaieteur News – The Dr. Balwant Singh’s Hospital Inc. said on Thursday that the decision to remove the reproductive organs from Ms. Wonder Kellman-Hall was necessary to save her life during surgery.

Kellman-Hall accused the hospital of causing her to suffer, “physical and emotional” damage. In court papers drafted by Attorney, Sanjeev Datadin, the patient said that the doctors removed her ovaries and cervix without her permission. She is suing for in excess of $6.6 M worth in damages.

In a statement release on Thursday, the hospital said Ms. Kellman-Hall had been a patient of Dr. Madhu Singh, Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, and Chief Executive Officer, since May 2014. She was diagnosed with a condition in 2021 and surgery was recommended as the best course of action. The procedure, the hospital said was conducted on June 9, 2021. “Ms. Kellman-Hall made a complaint about the procedure in August 23, 2022. It is important to note that Ms. Kellman-Hall was fully informed of the risks and benefits of the recommended procedure, and she gave her consent. Ms. Kellman-Hall’s consent was voluntary and informed, and at no time did the hospital or its employees breach any duty of care owed to
her,” the hospital added. According to the hospital during the surgery, however, there was uncontrollable bleeding from one organ posing a risk to her life. “As a result, it was necessary to remove the organ. It should be noted that the procedure is a routine one and the organ removal poses no long-term effects to her ability to continue her normal life.

Post-surgery, Dr. Madhu Singh informed Ms. Kellman-Hall of the circumstances and explained that, despite the action that was required during surgery, the overall goals of the procedure were met, and that her post-surgery expectations have not changed. The post-surgery action required that everything that was removed during surgery be sent to the
Georgetown Public Hospital for testing. The histopathology report from the Georgetown Public Hospital confirms the position of the Dr. Balwant Singh’s Hospital.”
According to the court documents seen by this newspaper, Kellman-Hall outlined, she visited the private hospital after she started to encounter health issues. She claimed that she was advised by Dr. Madhu Singh, a gynaecologist who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Balwant Singh, that she had fibroids and an umbilical hernia.

Kellman-Hall who described herself as a married woman in her mid-40’s with two adult children, said that the hospital charged her $650,000 to perform two operations; one to remove her womb, the other to remove the hernia. She said that she agreed to pay the sum but was adamant that she did not want her ovaries and cervix to be removed.

She claimed to have “expressly informed” Dr. Singh of her decision. According to the information outlined in the court document, the surgeries were performed on June 9, 2021 and Kellman-Hall was discharged from the hospital on June 11, 2021.

August 23, 2022, Kellman-Hall underwent an ultra sound at Balwant Singh. The woman claims that Dr. Singh told her that everything was “normal” with her body. Still, at that point, nothing was said about the removal of her cervix or ovaries.

Kellman-Hall said that sometime after the surgeries, she started to experience some strange symptoms which included extreme sweating, pains, hot flashes, chills, lack of energy, lack of concentration and mood swings.

However, when she visited the private hospital, Dr. Singh never told her of the additional procedure to remove her organs. The woman said it is until she decided to get a second opinion owing to the persistent symptoms that she discovered that her reproductive organs were missing. Kellman–Hall divulged that the discovery was made after she took another ultra sound at the Cancer Institute of Guyana Inc. where the medical team there told her that the ultrasound revealed that her cervix and ovaries were removed. The woman said she then revisited Balwant Singh Hospital and confronted Dr. Singh with the information. She said that it was then Dr. Singh explained that she had bleeding on one of her ovaries and she decided to remove it during the surgery.

Kellman-Hall said she requested all the documentation from the hospital concerning the surgery however she has not received any such information or documentation to date. As such, she has hired a team of attorneys and decided to take the private hospital to task in the court.

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• Balwant Singh Hospital, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Madhu Singh, gynaecologist, Wonder Kellman-Hall

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