A woman from Aranmula has accused Kozhencherry District Hospital of medical negligence after a broken injection needle remained lodged in her body for nearly a year. Valsala, the victim, went to the hospital for a routine injection, but the needle snapped and got embedded in her body.

For months, Valsala suffered from persistent pain. Doctors she consulted dismissed it as normal post-injection discomfort or hardening of the medicine. It was only when the pain became unbearable and she underwent an X-ray that the broken needle was discovered.

Even after the discovery, the same hospital performed a surgery to remove the needle but failed to extract it completely. Half of the needle remains inside her body, causing continual pain. Valsala said she does not sew clothes at home and cannot see well enough to thread a needle, questioning how a sewing needle could have entered her body.

The hospital superintendent stated that while the object is indeed from an injection needle, they could not confirm whether it broke off during the injection administered at their facility.

Valsala has filed a complaint, and Kerala Health Minister Muralidharan has sought an urgent report from the DMO regarding the incident. This is one of the first medical negligence cases to emerge under the new government.