Pune: In the Porsche crash case, the Pune crime branch has filed a written submission before the special court opposing the bail plea filed by the forensic doctor, Dr. Ajay Taware, the suspended head of the forensic department of Sassoon hospital, Pune. Dr. Taware is accused of conniving with the father of the accused, a city based builder and has manipulated the alcohol test of the accused by changing the blood sample.
The court has also received bail pleas of co-accused, Dr. Shrihari Halnor, the suspended casualty ward medical officer of Sassoon hospital who allegedly disposed of the blood sample of the teenager accused under the instruction of Dr. Ajay Taware. Meanwhile the Pune Police Commissioner , Amitesh Kumar has told that they will opposing the bail plea of the accused in this case as the Porsche case is at crucial stage and will be hampered if the two doctors are released on bail.
“Mandates another Doctor opinion supporting negligence to proceed”
Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court’s single bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi while quashing the pending complaint against the accused doctor under Sec 304A stated that a private complaint of medical negligence against a doctor can only be entertained only if prima facie evidence is being produced in the form of credible opinion of another doctor to support the negligence of the accused doctor. Effectively the court said that for the prosecution to proceed in medical negligence it is mandatory that another doctor supports the prosecution accusation of negligence against the accused doctor. The High Court relied on the judgment of Supreme Court in this regard namely “ Jacob Mathews vs State of Punjab & Martin F. D’Souza vs Md. Ishfaq”.
The facts of the case are that the complainant mother got admitted in the hospital as she was feeling weak and was having trouble in passing urine. In the hospital the accused doctor and other junior doctors treated the patient. The patient was sifted to CCU as she was diagnosed with Urinary Track Infection. As the patient was suffering from high blood sugar she was given insulin but the patient passed away. The complainant alleged that to get medical claim he requested the doctor to give him medical records. On carefully examining the medical records the complainant realised that her mother has passed away due to heavy dose of insulin. Also the instrument used for testing glucose level was faulty which led to erroneous reading of the blood sugar level. The other allegation levelled by the complainant was that he was forced to buy medicine from the pharmacy affiliated to the doctor. Hence the doctors were negligent and he has filed a complaint against the doctor for the death of her mother. On the other hand the doctors submitted that there was no medical negligence while treating the patient and they have put their best efforts to treat the complainant mother. But despite all their efforts they could not save the patient and hence they could not be held negligent.
The High Court while relying on the judgment of Supreme Court in this regard namely “ Jacob Mathews vs State of Punjab & Martin F. D’Souza vs Md. Ishfaq” said that for proceeding in a private complaint another doctor should give an opinion supporting negligence of the accused doctor. The court said “In view of the above two judgments of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, it is crystal clear that a private complaint may not be entertained unless the complainant has produced prima facie evidence in the form of credible opinion given by another doctor to support the charge of rashness or negligence on the part of the accused doctor. It appears that to allow the proceeding to continue, will amount to an abuse of the process of law.” The court further added that since the complainant has failed to get the opinion of another doctor supporting the negligence of the accused doctor the entire criminal proceeding under Section 304-A of the Indian Penal Code pending in the court of learned Judicial Magistrate, Dhanbad against the accused doctor is quashed.
To read the complete judgment of the Jharkhand High Court, click the link below…
New Delhi : The Rohini Sessions Court Judge JItendra Singh has granted anticipatory bail to the male doctor and regular bail to the female gynaecologist who are husband and wife in a case registered against them under POCSO Act. The court while granting bail to the female gynaecologist acknowledged that there has been no complaint against her under PNDT neither she has been accused of illegal termination of pregnancy till date. He further added that the accused has cooperated in investigation by providing all the records and hence her bail plea has been accepted.
The Rohini Police has lodged an FIR against the doctor couple on the basis of the statement of the Prosecutrix wherein she has alleged that she was raped by the co-accused several times and that her abortion was done in the nursing home where the gynaecologist was present. The Prosecutrix has made allegations against her boyfriend/co-accused and accused that her abortion was done on May, October and December by the gynaecologist. This led to the arrest of the gynaecologist by the Rohini Police. Interestingly the boyfriend of the prosecutrix was granted anticipatory bail but the gynaecologist was arrested. The Rohini police conducted raids on the clinic of gynaecologist but failed to get evidence of pregnancy or abortion of the prosecutrix.
The advocate for the gynaecologist submitted in the court that the gynaecologist has been falsely implicated in the case. It was further submitted that the gynaecologist is 57 year old and is a well- known doctor and has been in this profession for the last 15 years. Also there has been no allegation of illegal abortion or termination of pregnancy against the gynaecologist till date. The Rohini police has already checked all the relevant medical records and hence the gynaecologist should be given regular bail, which the court accepted.
Ahmedabad: A second-year orthopaedic resident doctor has alleged relentless harassment by his Associate Professor at BJ Medical College associated with Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. The resident doctor has filed a complaint detailing serious allegations of harassment for the last one year by Associate Professor. The resident doctor had sent out a message expressing intent to die by suicide due to the constant harassment by his Associate Professor in the Orthopaedic department.
The student alleged that the harassment began while he was a first-year resident at the MCH. He claimed he was constantly humiliated, blamed for various problems, forced to write self-incriminating letters, and “treated as a slave rather than a student.” Furthermore, the student alleged that the associate professor forced him to participate in misbehaving with and harassing his juniors, colleagues, and other staff repeatedly in front of patients, threatening to adversely affect his medical education if he resisted. In this sequence of events, the student wrote that although he would apologise to the affected persons who understood his dilemma, the accused associate professor had made his juniors file complaints against him, leading to these machinations affecting his “mental stability.”
Now an official enquiry has been initiated against the Associate Professor of Department of Orthopaedic. The college has assured of a thorough enquiry into the allegations levelled by the resident doctor.
Guwahati: The POCSO Court has framed charges against a doctor couple under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 for allegedly abusing and torturing their 4 year old adopted girl child. The couple will face imprisonment for a minimum of 20 years extendable upto life imprisonment if convicted. The male doctor is gastrointestinal and advanced general surgeon and his wife is a psychiatrist.
The male doctor has been charged under Section 6 of the POCSO Act and Section 376 AB of the IPC while the female doctor has been charged under Section 6 of the POCSO Act, as well as Sections 326A and 376 AB of the IPC. The additional charges both doctors faced are under Sections 466, 471, and 370 (5) of the IPC. Also both doctors are charged under Sections 75, 80 & 81 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. Along with the doctor couple, the POCSO Court has also framed charges against two domestic helpers under Section 21 of the POCSO Act and under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act. The Court has also framed charges against Utpala Basu, who had supplied two children to the doctor couple under Section 75/80/81 of the Juvenile Justice Act and Section 370 (5) of the IPC. The male doctor was apprehended from his Hatigaon residence on May 5,2023 while the female doctor was arrested from the Khanapara area on May 6, 2023. Both remain in judicial custody as the legal proceedings continue.
According to the police they had received information that a 4 year old girl hands were tied at a pole and she was crying incessantly. The police reached the spot and rescued the minor girl. During interrogation the doctor couple admitted that they had tied the child to the pole on terrace as punishment for the child being dis-obedient. The couple also admitted hitting the minor girl with iron rod and pouring hot water over the body as punishment.
Rajkot: The health department of Rajkot has unearthed a major scam, wherein a pediatric hospital has been fined Rs.6.54 crores for submitting manipulated medical records of 116 children’s in the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) portal. As per the health department the paediatric hospital tampered with the medical records of children’s and submitted inflated bills to the health department under the PMJAY scheme for approval. The probe by the health department took 45 days to uncover the scam.
Under the standard procedures in PMJAY scheme the doctors has to send lab reports and other investigations done by them to justify the diagnosis of the patient and can claim a maximum of Rs.10 Lakhs per patient. The health department investigated the records of 524 children’s treated by the hospital in the last 8 months. During investigation the health department compared the lab reports submitted by the hospital with the lab reports actually given by the laboratories. It was discovered that 116 children’s lab report mismatched with the original. The original reports were manipulated by the hospital and the bills were inflated. Also, it is being alleged that the hospital was having alliance with certain laboratories so as to fabricate reports and misrepresent healthy children as sick.
The Gandhinagar Health Department had sent a penalty notice to the hospital detailing violations under the PMJAY scheme. The hospital improperly modified reports for 116 cases seeking pre-authorization, resulting in rejected claims totalling Rs 65,47,950. As a consequence, the government plans to levy a penalty ten times this amount i.e. Rs. 6.54 crores from the hospital.
Thiruvananthapuram: The family of a 35-year-old man hailing from Palode, who died while undergoing treatment at a city hospital, has approached the police alleging that medical negligence on the part of the hospital staff had cost his life. The family members alleged that the doctors did not provide proper treatment to Akhil Mohan, who was admitted to the casualty department of SK Hospital at Edapazhanji. Akhil’s uncle Abhilash M said Akhil, who was a lorry driver, collapsed at Venjaramoodu and was first admitted to Nedumangad Taluk Hospital. From there, he was shifted to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital. “There was no bed available at the Medical College Hospital and Akhil was having breathing discomfort. So, he was taken to another private hospital where the doctors confirmed he had a heart attack. On their advice we shifted him to SK Hospital by 1am. The doctors at the casualty were shown all the medical reports, but they maintained his condition was okay and there was no cardiac issue,” Abhilash said.
Abhilash further alleged that the senior cardiology doctors initially did not visit the patient, while the juniors maintained he was alright. When Akhil’s woes worsened, he was moved to the ventilator.
“We alerted Poojappura police sensing that something was fishy. The police came and talked to the doctors. The doctors flipped their stand and said the patient was in a bad shape and he had to be moved to some other hospital for better treatment. While we were discussing the hospital shift, they announced that he had died due to a massive cardiac arrest,” Abhilash added. Poojappura police station Inspector said the relatives of Akhil have verbally communicated their allegation that there was medical negligence from the part of the hospital. “They are yet to file an official complaint,” the officer said. The relatives, meanwhile, filed a complaint with Aruvikkara station as the deceased was living in that area. “We have received a complaint from the relatives of the deceased. But we cannot register a case as the incident occurred within Poojappura station limits,” said the Aruvikkara police sub-inspector.
Meanwhile the hospital officials have denied the allegation. Dr Sandhya Pradeep, chief executive officer of SK Hospital, told that the patient was brought to the hospital on Monday night.
He was first taken to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital and then to a private hospital in Sasthamangalam, she added. “The relatives of the already sick patient took him to SK Hospital after taking him to two other hospitals. He was diagnosed as having heart-related issues and was asked to undergo angiogram. But on examination it was found that the patient did not have to undergo angiogram as his lungs were already white in colour. He died on Tuesday around 8pm before anything could be done,” Dr Sandhya said. She added that tense situation was deliberately initiated by the relatives which led to police arriving at SK Hospital. “We have demanded a post-mortem examination from our side. The police will take the body to the mortuary on Wednesday. The relatives have also been informed of the same and they have agreed for the post-mortem examination”, she added.
Gurugram: A doctor and an ASHA worker allegedly involved in conducting illegal pre-natal gender tests of pregnant women in the national capital were busted in a joint raid by the health department of Gurugram and Delhi, an official said. The team caught four accused and handed them over to Delhi Police, Gurugram civil surgeon Dr Virender Yadav said. Police have registered a case under various sections, including the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) (PNDT) Act, and started investigation into it. The act bans prenatal sex determination.
The official said the Delhi health department team sealed the items recovered from the spot, which includes an ultrasound machine.
Mr Yadav said he had information that ASHA worker Anita is involved in getting pre-natal gender tests done on pregnant women with the help of Dr Neelam Walia at Walia Maternity Centre in Sarita Vihar, Delhi. Anita charged ₹ 40,000-Rs 50,000 for the job, the official said. Based on the information, a team that included Dr Pradeep, Dr Harsh, Dr Ravi and assistant Subhash Sharma was formed, he said. A pregnant woman was asked to be a fake customer and introduced to Anita, who asked for ₹ 40,000 for the gender test, Mr Yadav said. “It was on Monday when ASHA worker Anita reached Walia Maternity Centre in Sarita Vihar, Delhi with the woman who was a fake customer. At the centre, the woman got an ultrasound done without any document. Gurugram health department team reached there and conducted a raid,” he said. “Anita, Dr Neelam Walia, her husband Dushyant Walia and their son Rawal Walia were caught and handed over to Delhi Police. During the raid, ₹ 10,000 were recovered from the possession of Neelam Walia and ₹ 10,000 from Anita,” Mr Yadav said.
Mumbai: The Kurar police has booked a dentist a week after a teenage girl died by suicide on charges of raping the girl and abetting her suicide. The minor girl, aged 17, was working as a compounder at the dentist’s clinic and she ended her life in the clinic by hanging herself. The family alleged that the doctor used to sexually exploit and beat the girl and stopped her from talking to anyone else either in person or on the phone. This lead to the girl’s mental condition being deteriorated which likely pushed her to resort to such a grave measure.
Based on a complaint of the family members, Kurar police registered a case on Thursday under the Indian Penal Code sections related to rape, the Juvenile Justice Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act).
Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh: In a significant development in a seven-year-old medical negligence case, four doctors from Apollo Hospital, Bilaspur, were arrested and were later released on bail. The doctors were arrested after the inquiry revealed negligence during treatment by the doctors.
The case pertains to the death of a young businessman, Gurveen Chhabra, alias Goldy, who was admitted to Apollo Hospital in 2016 after complaining of a stomach ache. Goldy, a resident of Adarsh Colony, Dayalband, died at the hospital on December 26, 2016. The hospital initially claimed that he died due to sulfur poisoning. However, the postmortem report did not confirm this as the chemical report from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) was pending. In 2019, the FSL report revealed that there was no poison.
Goldy’s relatives lodged a complaint alleging negligence and wrong treatment by the hospital management and doctors. When no action was taken by the police, Goldy’s father, Paramjeet Singh Chhabra, filed a petition in the High Court against the state government, senior police officers, and Apollo Hospital, demanding action against the doctors and the cancellation of their licenses. The High Court ruled in Paramjeet’s favor and ordered the police to conduct a preliminary inquiry.
The post-mortem report from the Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS) in Bilaspur and a report from the Directorate of Forensic Science, Medical Legal Department, pointed out prima facie negligence during the treatment. Consequently, the police lodged an FIR under IPC sections 304 (A) for causing death by negligence, 201 for causing the disappearance of evidence, and 34 for common intention. Further investigation regarding negligence by the hospital management and other doctors is currently underway.
