Seeking to dismiss controversy and rumours surrounding former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's death, doctors from Chennai's Apollo Hospital today confirmed that she died following a cardiac arrest.
Following her death on December 5, a petition had been filed by Tamil Nadu Telugu Yuva Sakthi with the Supreme Court urging a probe into the circumstances of her death, alleging that details of her death were shrouded in mystery.
"There was no question of poisoning, nothing mysterious about the death... It was a witnessed cardiac arrest...we tried to revive her for 20 minutes," NDTV reported the Apollo doctors as saying while addressing a press conference today.
Richard Beale, a British doctor who was among the doctors treating the former minister said it was known that Jayalalithaa had been suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure.
"At the beginning, when she was unwell, she was not able to interact. Later on the situation improved and she was aware and able to interact more," Indian Express reported Beale as saying. He reportedly added it isn't ordinary practice to take photos of a patient and publish their private details, which would be a violation of their privacy.
Beale also told the news conference that the former minister had been conscious when she was brought in an ambulance from her home, according to PTI.
Beale was accompanied by P Balaji of Madras Medical College and K Babu of Apollo Hospitals, who had signed the election forms on which the former minister's thumb impression had been taken for nominating AIADMK candidates.
Beale also clarified that it was possible for sepsis, and the body's response to that infection, to have spread fast and damaged other organs even though Jayalalithaa showed signs of recovery during her 75-day stay at the Apollo Hospitals.
Beale said at that time "it was not clear" what the source of infection was "but subsequent tests showed there was indeed infection in her blood".
With PTI inputs