Decision to reoperate

A heart catheterization showed that Vinay's problems had not been solved and his condition was deteriorating. The problem could be addressed only by either replacing the valve or fixing the leak. Odim chose the latter option. It was made clear to the Goyals that there was no option left but to re-operate on Vinay to correct the leaking patch. The fact that this was a high-risk operation was clear to them. There was no discussion about trying to transfer Vinay to another heart centre. Indeed, the evidence tends to suggest that he was in no condition to be transferred any great distance.

Nonetheless, one would have thought that the option would have been raised with the family. Furthermore, by the time the Goyals were being asked to provide consent to a second operation, which did not take place until April 18, a second child, Jessica Ulimaumi, had died following pediatric cardiac surgery at the HSC.