Apollo Doctors Reveal Late Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa's Cause Of Death

The directors of the Critical Care Units (CCU) at the Apollo Hospital in Chennai have now told the one-man probe panel that former Tamil Nadu chief Minister J Jayalalithaa died of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), which led to a cardiac arrest, sources said.

The commission, led by Retd Justice A Arumughaswamy, is investigating the circumstances surrounding the late chief minister's hospitalisation and eventual death in December 2016.

According to a report in The Times of India, Ramakrishnan, the director of the CCU, appeared before the commission for a deposition which lasted for around 2 hours. Ramakrishnan is not directly involved in the treatment meted out to former CM Jayalalithaa, but is responsible for overseeing the CCUs at various Apollo hospitals in the city.

Sources said that Ramakrishnan was shown the late CM's death certificate and was quizzed about the cause of death.

During the deposition, Ramakrishnan also mentioned how an Angiogram was not preferred for various reasons, sources said. He told the commission that during their discussion with various international doctors, it was suggested that since Jayalalithaa's condition at that given point was not an emergency, an angiogram was not needed. This decision was based on a risk benefit analysis, sources quoted Ramakrishnan as saying.

*Originally published in Times of India*