Medical Council suspends Doctor for negligence in knee replacement surgery

Bengaluru: Holding a Karnataka-based doctor guilty of using poor-quality implants in a knee-replacement surgery and failing to provide post-operative care, the State Medical Council in Karnataka on June 4 has suspended his licence for a period of six months.

After Dr. Mohammed Irshad operated on the patient five years ago, the patient ultimately became bedridden and ultimately died on April 21 last year.

While KMC has announced its verdict, another case is still pending against the doctor at the consumer court, which is likely to hear the matter on June 30, reports TOI.

The matter goes back to five years ago when the patient had approached Dr. Irshad, who had advised her for total knee-replacement surgery. Following the operation the patient had to undergo physiotherapy, after which she allegedly caught an infection. When she again approached the doctor, he allegedly patched the stitches using a stapler instead of operating on her. 

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As per the latest media report by the Times of India, the in his complaint before the KMC, the husband of the patient stated, "The doctor recommended Khanum to undergo total knee-replacement surgery after which she was shifted to a ward where physiotherapy was done by an unprofessional person causing the stitches to come out. She also caught an infection. The doctor hurriedly patched the stitches using a stapler in the ward instead of taking her to the operation theatre. Soon after coming home, Khanum developed black patches on her knee."

Following this, the patient developed black patches on her knee. Consequently, the patient started developing severe pain in her knee and after consulting another orthopaedic specialist, they came to know that starting from her diagnosis, her entire treatment was wrong and further the patient had been operated with low-quality implants.

As a result of the operation, the patient became bedridden for the rest of her life and she lost her ability to move or exercise. Ever since she died last year, it has been a firm belief of her family that her death is a direct result of the poor health she suffered due to the knee-replacement surgery.

Aggrieved, the 80-year-old husband of the deceased, who is paralysed on his left side and has been trying tirelessly for getting his wife justice had filed a complaint with the KMC, which has suspended Dr. Irshad for a period of six months as it held him guilty of medical negligence.

Responding to the KMC order, Khan told TOI that he wants to make sure that no-one suffers from such negligence. When asked if he was satisfied with the punishment, he told the daily, "I do not want to comment on the KMC's order."

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