A group of medical professionals protested outside the Ministry of Health in Colombo on Wednesday morning over the Ministry’s handling of a child’s death at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Borella, in a case where post-mortem findings reportedly showed both of the child’s kidneys had been removed during surgery and the hospital has still not produced the organs.
Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, President of the Medical Professionals’ Alliance for Medical and Civil Rights, accused the Ministry of failing to act on the case, which he said occurred nearly three years ago, the Daily Mirror reported.
What the filing says happened
The child died following kidney surgery at the hospital. Later post-mortem examinations reportedly found that both kidneys were missing — a point the child’s parents had also raised in court.
According to Dr. Sanjeewa, the child’s kidneys were fused together and both were removed during the procedure. The hospital director at the time, Dr. G. Wijesuriya, had initially explained that the second kidney was taken out because it was attached to the one surgeons had intended to remove.
The parents disputed that account. They said medical examinations carried out before the child was admitted had confirmed the two kidneys were positioned separately within the abdominal cavity.
The failure of hospital authorities to produce the removed kidneys became a central concern. The matter went before court, and steps were reportedly taken at the time to suspend the Judicial Medical Officer who had conducted the initial post-mortem.
The allegation against the Ministry
Dr. Sanjeewa questioned why the Ministry had allegedly not extended adequate cooperation to see the law enforced, given that nearly three years have passed and that court directions have been issued — including directions to produce the relevant health officials before court.
He described the Ministry’s conduct as suspicious, and called on the Secretary to the Ministry of Health to open an internal investigation and submit all relevant investigation reports to court without further delay.
The Daily Mirror said it made several attempts to reach the Director of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children for comment but was unable to do so, and that the Ministry’s response to the allegations was not immediately available.
A contradiction within the filing
The report states in one passage that Dr. G. Wijesuriya “was the hospital director at the time” and offered the explanation for the second kidney’s removal. In a later passage it describes Dr. G. Wijesuriya as the doctor “who conducted the surgery” and reports that he is currently overseas, adding that it is unclear whether his absence has affected the investigations or the implementation of court directions.
Those two descriptions — hospital director and operating surgeon — are not the same role, and the filing does not reconcile them. This desk is reproducing both as they appear rather than choosing between them. Readers should treat the identity of the surgeon as unestablished on this filing alone.
Earlier coverage of a case at the same hospital
A search of verified Sri Lankan newsrooms returned a substantial earlier record of a case at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital matching this description, in which the child is identified in headlines as “Hamdi” — and, in one Daily Mirror headline, as “Hamdan”. Those filings are from 2023 and later and fall well outside this desk’s source-freshness window, so they are cited here as background with that caveat, on the strength of their headlines:
- Probe commenced over death of three-year-old boy at LRH and GMOA calls for impartial inquiry over child’s death at LRH — Daily Mirror
- Police advised not to depend on the JMO’s report due to contradictions and obscurities — Daily Mirror print edition
- Little Hamdi’s death: Discrepancies in JMO report revealed and Consultant paediatric nephrologist gives evidence before court — Daily FT
- Little Hamdi’s missing kidney still a mystery — Daily Mirror
- Three-year-old dies during kidney surgery; parents allege negligence — Hiru News
Read together, those headlines establish that the case has been before the courts for years, that the Government Medical Officers’ Association called for an impartial inquiry, that the JMO’s report was found to contain contradictions, and that a consultant paediatric nephrologist has given evidence. They also show the missing kidney was described as an unresolved mystery long before Wednesday’s protest.
Not reported
Wednesday’s filing does not name the child, give the date of the surgery or the date of death, name the surgeon unambiguously, or identify the court before which the case is pending. It does not say how many people took part in the protest, what the court directions specifically required, when they were issued, or whether any disciplinary or criminal proceedings are on foot against any individual. It does not state whether the suspended Judicial Medical Officer was reinstated, or what the second post-mortem concluded. The Ministry of Health has not responded.
On sourcing: this report rests on a single verified source, the Daily Mirror. A search for Wednesday’s protest and allegations across Hiru News, NewsFirst, Island, Daily News and Daily FT returned only the historical coverage listed above, not a same-day filing.
