Chennai: TN Medical Council initiates action after Medical student dies after Hair transplant

Chennai: In an unfortunate incident, a final year medical student has died after undergoing a hair transplant procedure in a salon in Nungambakkan.

The incident goes back last month and came into light only after Tamil Nadu Medical council received a complaint from the state health department, about one, Santosh Kumar, a medical student from Madras Medical college, who underwent hair transplant at the Advanced Robotic Hair Transplant Centre and passed away due to complications.

A post mortem confirming the possible causes of death could not be done as the family did not file any police complaint.

However, doctors have attributed the death due to anaesthesia related complications, possible an unmanaged allergy to anaesthesia.  DMS sources said the centre has license only for hair cutting and styling, and not such procedures that can be considered surgical.

Tamil Nadu Medical Council has initiated action against two doctors present at the Clinic, Dr Hariprasad Kasturi, an anaesthetist, and Dr A Vineeth Suryakumar, an MBBS who graduated from a college in China, asking them to explain why they conducted the surgical procedure though they were not qualified, that too at a non-medical centre. The salon has now been sealed by DMS reports TOI.

"We have issued notices to them. We have asked Dr Hariprasad why he did not stay in the salon till the procedure was completed. We have asked Dr Vineeth how he performed the surgery without being qualified. Hair transplant is a surgery and Vineeth is not a surgeon," Tamil Nadu Medical Council president Dr K Senthil told TOI.

The student had gone to the salon for a hair transplant, where it took more than six hours to perform the procedure. It is reported that during the procedure the anesthetist, Dr Hariprasad also left the salon.

The patient went home after the procedure where he complained of discomfort He was then taken to a nearby private hospital where Dr Hariprasad worked, and was given first aid post which the student left for his home town.

The next day his condition deteriorated and his family took him to Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore, where he died. "Hospital reports said that he died soon after admission due to multi-organ failure triggered by delayed anaphylaxis and toxic syndrome," said Dr Senthil.

Since the family did not file any complaint, the case only came to light, when the student’s batch mates demanded for an inquiry into his death.