Health minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana was at the Colombo National Hospital yesterday (01) to inquire into the death of a patient due to alleged medical negligence.
Health secretary Dr. Palitha Mahipala and director general of health services Dr. Asela Gunawardena accompanied him in the visit.
The minister raised the patient’s death with NHC’s deputy director general Dr. Kumar Wickramasinghe and made an inspection of the place the patient died.
Later, he told journalists that the CNH and the ministry were conducting separate investigations into the matter.
With the two reports due tomorrow, appropriate action would be taken, also to prevent any recurrence, he said.
According to media reports, a 61-year-old unmarried woman died after being administered with carbon dioxide, instead of oxygen.
She has been identified as Nuala Thevathasan, an executive director at Verite Research.
Her funeral took place at Borella cemetery on 31 December.
Meanwhile, the Lanka Nurses Union refuted the reason cited for Thevathasan’s death.
