Then Apollo Said Jaya Was Having Fever & Dehydration, Now They Say She Was Critical When Admitted

How ill was Jayalalithaa when she was admitted to Apollo Hospitals on the night of Sept 22? That question combined with the nature of her illness, the treatment given to her and her response had remained one of the top kept secrets of Tamil Nadu - till today.

 A detailed summary of her medical history from that September night to her death on the night of Dec 5, 2016, released by the hospital and the state government, shows that Jayalalithaa was actually critical on the night she was admitted to Apollo.  

 “On evaluation, the late Hon’ble Chief Minister was diagnosed to be suffering from infection and dehydration, accompanied by respiratory distress and altered sensorium (drowsy and not responding to verbal commands). She was admitted in a very critical condition to the Multi Disciplinary Critical Care Unit (MDCCU) after initial treatment in the Emergency Room,” the medical summary released by Apollo today stated.

 The original statement released by the hospital on the night of Sept 22 had merely stated Jayalalitha was suffering from fever and dehydration. There was no word about respiratory distress with low oxygen saturation resulting in drowsiness or her being in a critical condition. Today’s summary also disclosed that further tests had shown that she was suffering from  a severe bacterial infection of her blood resulting in septic shock and a serious heart ailment affecting her mitral valve.

 The state government was compelled to release the full medical summary of the hospital after leaders of the O. Panneerselvam group had alleged that Jayalalithaa had suffered injuries when admitted to Apollo. The state government’s health secretary Dr. J. Radhakrishnan, citing the Apollo report and also one by the AIIMS team, today refuted she had suffered any such trauma. While admitting that “there were pre-existing co-morbidities like diabetes, hypertension, asthmatic bronchitis and hypothyroidism, but clearly the treatment report of Apollo Hospital, as well as that of AIIMS do not mention any evidence of trauma or any other event as alleged by certain political leaders,” he stated.

 The Apollo report also confirms another widespread belief – Amma was not in the best of health. And the media reports, for which she had sued some of them, were not totally unfounded. “Past medical history was significant for multiple medical problems including obesity, hypertension, poorly controlled diabetes, hypothyroidism, irritable bowel syndrome with chronic diarrhea and chronic seasonal bronchitis,” the report stated.

 “The uncontrolled diabetes could be attributed to the manner in which Dr. Shantharam, a reputed diabetologist who was treating her, was summarily sacked by Sasikala and her family members six months prior to her hospitalization,” said a senior doctor of Apollo. When Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo her diabetics was being treated by Dr. Sivakumar, a plastic surgeon and a relative of Sasikala, according to sources in the medical fraternity. Strangely Dr. Sivakumar’s name is not listed in the 18 specialists named today by Apollo, though he is attached to the hospital and was present during a rare and brief media briefing in late September.

 The state government’s hand was also forced by a petition submitted to the President by 12 MPs of the AIADMK’s breakaway group demanding a detailed probe into Jayalalithaa’s medical history and treatment. “Today’s response is an eyewash and is aimed at pre-empting a CBI enquiry,” said Dr. V. Maithreyan of the rebel group.

 But the state Health Secretary has cited the report of the AIIMS team to claim that there had been significant improvement in the Chief Minister’s health on Dec 3 which stated she “was fully conscious was able to sit up.” But the same report also indicated that she was suffering from polyneuropathy (malfunction of peripheral nerves throughout the body), which could take months for her to recover.

 The OPS group has been harping on the secrecy surrounding Jayalalithaa’s medical treatment, to put Sasikala and her relatives on the defensive holding them responsible for her death. They firmly believe that the anti-Sasikala mood in the state is anchored on the secrecy she had maintained around Jaya’s treatment refusing even the state Governor to meet her. And that her hand-picked team of doctors, who had treated Jayalalithaa at her Poes Garden residence, had bungled badly.

 Though OPS had been among the Ministers who had been briefed by the medical team when Jaya was in hospital and party spokesperson C. Ponnaiyayan had even claimed on Dec 1 that Amma would be back home very soon, these two leaders were playing a totally different tune now that they are in the opposite camp. OPS now claims that he was never allowed to meet Jaya and Ponnaiyan blames Sasikala for feeding him wrong info which he relayed to the media.

 Though their demand is nothing but political opportunism it has finally lifted the veil surrounding Jayalalithaa’s health. She was really ill during the first six months of her fourth term from May 2016.