Overview

• Court records cite 65 deaths after 385 open-heart surgeries since January 2023, including 26 deaths from 85 surgeries in January–August 2025.
• The bench directed the Medical Superintendent to submit survival status data and minutes of any death review by September 26.
• Health Secretary S. Aswathi told the court that death audits will be conducted and that patient care will not be disrupted.
• Judges urged the government to create an additional competent CTVS team to maintain capacity and avoid cost burdens on patients who might shift to private hospitals.
• Rising LAMA cases were flagged by the court, which recommended counselling, supervised cardiac rehabilitation, medication adherence guidance and lifestyle counselling to lower risk.