6 doctors booked for alleged negligence after 5-year-old dies during treatment

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:  Based on an official medical board report that revealed that a five-year-old boy did not die from complications related to a genital disorder, six doctors including, an anaesthetist and paediatric surgeon, have been charged and are now wanted in a case of medical negligence.

The father of the deceased son who is a city-based advocate blamed the doctors for his son's death. He claimed that his son was taken for an operation for phimosis with penile torsion, a genital-related disorder, however, instead his son died from multi-organ failure due to septicaemia following a hypoxic brain. 

According to the report submitted by the medical board of the Govt Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), the boy developed a ‘hypoxic brain' during the operation, and the genital-related disorder he was suffering from itself could not be the cause of death. 

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As per the TOI news report, the incident took place on April 26 this year when the boy was admitted to a well-known hospital in the city to undergo surgery for phimosis with penile torsion. However, he died on May 6. The doctors mentioned the cause of death as ‘multi-organ failure due to septicaemia following hypoxic brain'.

The father feeling devastated approached the Pundalik Nagar police station and filed a complaint against these 6 doctors. To confirm the accusations, the police referred the matter to the medical board of the Govt Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) for examination. 

Subsequently, the report revealed that the operation theatre notes do not indicate that a pre-evaluation of the boy was conducted before administering anaesthesia. According to the notes, three injections were given to the boy before spinal anaesthesia. However, CCTV footage from the operation theatre contradicts this, showing that the three injections were administered after spinal anaesthesia. Notably, this detail is absent from the operation theatre notes.

Based on the report, the police registered a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 304 (A) (death by negligence), 201 (destroying evidence), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 34 (common intention). However, the accused doctors were found missing when the police tried to contact them regarding the case. In fact, the hospital administration is also unable to trace the doctor as they have no clue about their whereabouts. 

Police sub-inspector Anand Bansode of the Pundalik Nagar police said, "All the accused doctors were not found at the private hospital when the police team visited on Thursday. We have done a panchanama at the hospital. We will be tracing the accused doctors as their arrest is necessary to recover lost proof and evidence and for a further investigation."

"All six doctors were not reachable. The mobile numbers of the doctors are switched off, and we have no clue about their whereabouts," a representative of the hospital administration informed the Daily. 

Meanwhile, the father demanding strict action against the accused doctors told TOI, "My child went to the OT on his own and the medical negligence of the doctors killed him. Moreover, to cover up their crime, the doctors manipulated my son's medical papers and destroyed some of the documents. They also tampered with crucial CCTV footage."

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