Medically incorrect to say Jaya died on December 4: AIIMS doctor

CHENNAI: It would be medically incorrect to say former chief minister J Jayalalithaa died on December 4, she died on December 5 as is in the medical records, Dr V Devagourou, cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), told the Justice A Arumughaswamy commission on Wednesday.


The doctor made this statement in response to a question raised by Raja Senthoor Pandian, counsel for V K Sasikala, Jayalalithaa’s close aide. He was also examined by Apollo counsel Maimoona Badsha.

Dr Devagourou told the commission that he been involved in 25 ECMO procedures and that he had personally checked on the night of December 5, 2016 that there was no improvement in Jayalalithaa’s condition. Only after that, with consultation with the Apollo team of doctors, was she declared dead.

When he reached on December 5, Jayalalithaa’s body temperature was brought back to normal (she was kept at a lower temperature to preserve brain function) and he switched on and off the pacemaker to check for signs of life, which was the normal procedure, sources quoted him as saying. Normally a patient is kept on ECMO for 24 hours, he said.

He also clarified on the cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and sternotomy procedure done on Jayalalithaa after she suffered a cardiac arrest on December 4 evening stating that the normal procedure was to do it in tandem, sources said.

In a related development, Apollo Hospitals moved a petition before the commission a day after Jayalalithaa’s hospital bill summary was ‘leaked’. Citing media reports, Apollo prayed for maintaining confidentiality of the documents.

To a question if AIIMS director had raised any queries on Jayalalithaa’s death, Dr Devagourou said none was raised. He mentioned that the vegetative growth on Jayalalithaa’s heart valve had calcified and hence won’t cause any further infection, sources said.

The commission also examined Dr Nikhil Tandon from Apollo on Wednesday.

In another development, Peter Jones, erstwhile owner of Jayalalithaa’s Kodanadu estate, appeared before the commission. Pandian objected to his deposition asking whether he had any link to Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation. Sources said the commission overruled him and continued with his deposition. He said he did not know anything about her hospitalisation.