Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Medical Council (GMC) has suspended a cardiologist from Khyati Hospital for three years after his arrest for performing unnecessary angioplasty procedures on two beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).
The GMC’s suspension order cited suo motu cognizance of the incident alongside a request from the Gujarat Health Department’s Medical Services division.
Earlier, a newspaper highlighted that two doctors from Khyati Hospital in Bodakdev were accused of conducting angioplasties without obtaining family consent. The patients later died due to alleged negligence in post-operative care. The city police subsequently arrested the cardiologist, while another doctor, linked to hospitals in Rajkot and Surat, faced similar allegations.
The owners and doctors of Khyati Multispeciality Hospital have been charged with culpable homicide, attempted culpable homicide, forgery, cheating, and criminal conspiracy for performing unnecessary procedures on the two patients, leading to their deaths.
A preliminary inquiry by the State government revealed that the deceased patients did not require the heart procedures. The report cited the case of Maheshbhai Barot, noting that he had no valid medical reason for undergoing angiography or angioplasty.
Following its investigation, the GMC suspended the cardiologist’s medical registration for three years, including his MBBS degree, MD in General Medicine, and DNB qualifications. The decision was based on a resolution passed by the GMC’s Executive Committee and General Body after considering the findings of an Expert Medical Committee and a response from the cardiologist’s father.
The cardiologist, arrested on November 13, remains in judicial custody. He faces multiple charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, attempted culpable homicide, and other offenses listed in three FIRs—one filed by the state government and two by the deceased patients’ families.
Last month, the GMC also took disciplinary action against two other doctors from Rajkot and Ahmedabad, barring them from practicing for one year and six months, respectively. One of these doctors was found guilty of committing fraud under the PMJAY scheme by submitting false claims.
