Dr Balaji, coordinator for former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at Apollo Hospital and the UK doctor who treated Jayalalithaa, Dr. Richard Beale, address the  media. The press conference is being facilitated by the government, says Dr Beale, who is a world renowned intensive care specialist.  He said the government asked him to come now.

The press conference has been called to dispel rumours on Jayalalithaa's death.

"We want to dispel rumours on Jayalalithaa's condition, treatment. Infection resulted in damage of organs. The diagnosis is of respiratory failure. Consequences of sepsis, bacteria in blood very severe.

Photographic proof of what happened in hospital
"Not normal practice to photograph patients who are critically ill. It is an intrusion of privacy and takes away from the dignity of the patient. Someone who is not well is not in a position to make decisions.
"There are no CCTV images in a hospital room. We do not do that. It's extraordinary to even think that CCTV footage could be asked for.

Health
"She was talking, interacting with officials, but the sepsis was slowly taking over and she had to be put on ventilator. She was on sleeping medicines and  not able to communicate. We did a procedure called tracheotomy. Usually patients come off the sleeping medicines after tracheotomy is removed. This is regular procedure. Bacterial infection in blood was underlying problem. Infection spread to organs, led to shortness of breath. Diabetes made treatment difficult. No amputation, no transplantation took place. Marks on face happen on critically ill patients.

On the cardiac arrest
Her potassium levels were not high on that day. It was checked in the morning.
She had a sudden cardiac arrest.
All the facilities were available at her bedside. She was later shifted to the intensive care unit.
A medical personnel was available in the room. The on-call cardiologist present in the hospital was there in a few minutes.
The core team was informed immediately. Resuscitation was started immediately.
It was a witnessed cardiac arrest. She had a sudden cardiac arrest.


"Jaya was conscious when she gave a thumb impression to sign poll papers.

Jayalalithaa's recovery
When she was recovering, she spoke to people, she watched TV and was also able to walk a few steps, but not a lot, she was very weak.ed to London.

Dr Beale's interaction with Jayalalithaa.
She talked about TV, rehabilitation, food, told her about my children, we were having those sort of interactions. She couldn't speak clearly, but I understood what she said. She was a remarkable lady, and I could sense had a strength of purpose and dedication.

On visitors: Even when sedation is on it doesn't prevent the patient from interaction. Jayalalithaa gave the go-ahead on the visitors she wanted to meet. Sasikala was interacting with her, but she was not the only one.


Embalming
"At 12:20 midnight the embalming procedure began. Anatomy department of Madras Medical college carried it out, the same department that did the embalming of MG Ramachandran. The embalming was carried out in 15 minutes.

Jayalalithaa hospitalisation timeline:

She got admitted on September 22. She was in ICU with non-invasive ventilator.
She was slowly taken off of the ventilator when her condition improved.
She was later moved to the room. She was only on respiratory support.
She had a sudden cardiac arrest in the room days later.

Jayalalithaa's transfer to London for treatment.
The issue of transfer of patient to London was discussed. Yes, there is always a degree of risk, but with the resources at hand, almost anyone can be transported. We consulted her and she was the one who decided that she did not want to be transferred to London.