Why India has the worst amputation epidemic in the world

One evening, three years ago, 34-year-old D Raghavendra met with an accident as he was riding his two-wheeler in the city of Sindhanur, in northern Karnataka’s Raichur district. The father of two was rushed to the government hospital in the city, but was told that there were no doctors who could treat him. He was instructed to travel to the government hospital in the neighbouring district of Ballari, around 90 km away.

“It took us about two-and-a-half hours to get to the hospital in Ballari,” Raghavendra said. “There was some kind of strike at the hospital. They also said they didn’t have doctors who could treat my injury and they asked me to go to Bengaluru.”

Raghavendra got to Bengaluru at 6 am the day after his accident. He had been bleeding the whole way, he recalled.

In Bengaluru, doctors spent the first day performing a variety of scans and tests. “The next day, they amputated my leg,” he said. “They said there was no blood circulation in my legs and they could not save it.”

He still wonders if the procedure could have been avoided. “Sometimes I think maybe if I had the money and could afford to go to a private hospital, I may not have...

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