Porsche Crash Case: Need official documents to initiate action against Forensic Head, CMO of Sassoon Hospital, says Medical Council

Pune: No action has been taken so far against the head of the Forensic Medicine department and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Pune-based Sassoon General Hospital by the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) in connection with the alleged manipulation of the blood sample of the teen driver involved in the May 19 Porsche car crash case.

Medical Dialogues on May 28 reported that the MMC issued notices to both doctors after taking suo moto cognizance of the matter. In the notice, the council had demanded a written explanation within seven days from the two doctors providing details for their alleged negligence following which actions were said to be taken accordingly. 

Although the council received responses from the doctors, it is currently unable to take action against them until it receives an official response from the Pune police Commissioner and the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) in the case.

Also read- Porsche Crash Case: Medical Council Issues Notice To Forensic Head, CMO Of Sassoon Hospital, DMER Launches Probe

In response to the council's request, Dr Dilip Mhaisekar, the director of medical education and research said that no documents can be provided to MMC at this time due to the ongoing legal proceedings. He emphasized the need for clearance from the court on the committee report before forwarding it to the government for further action. "Thereafter, govt or the ministry of medical education will take the necessary action," he said.

Previously, the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) had formed a three-member committee to investigate the alleged involvement of the two doctors in the case. Medical Education Commissioner Rajiv Nivatkar issued the order appointing the dean of Grant Medical College and J J group of hospitals Dr Pallavi Sapale as the chairperson of the committee. The other members were Dr Gajanan Chavan, professor of the forensic medicine department of Grant Medical College, and Dr Sudhir Chowdhary, Special Duty Officer at Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar Government Medical College and Super Speciality Hospital.

Speaking to TOI, Dr Vinky Rughwani, administrator, MMC, said, "As of now, we have no official response from either authority. We have already written to the Pune police commissioner and sent reminders as well, but we are yet to hear from them. As of now, whatever information we have is from media reports. We need official documents to initiate action".

"We have also written to the director of medical education and research, seeking the report submitted by their committee in this regard. We can only write to investigating agencies for information. Before we take action, we must follow the principles of natural justice, according to which we must hear the other side’s say as well. We have received responses from the two accused doctors but await any official document that is incriminating proof of their actions," he added. 

Further, Dr Rughwani emphasized, “Unless we have proof that these doctors were involved in unethical practices, we cannot take action. The council holds the power to either suspend their licence for a day or permanently rusticate them.”

Pune CP Amitesh Kumar told TOI, “The investigation in the matter is on and a consolidated report will be sent shortly, once we have collected all evidence.”

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that two doctors of Sassoon Hospital were arrested for allegedly discarding the blood samples of the 17-year-old boy suspect accused of murdering two software engineers and replacing them with another person's samples.

The two doctors accused of tampering with the blood sample reports include the head of the Forensic Medicine department of Sassoon General Hospital and the chief medical officer of the Sassoon Hospital.

During the investigation, it was revealed that the Chief Medical Officer reportedly replaced the blood samples on the direction of the HOD on 19th May at around 11 am. The CMO allegedly threw the blood samples in a dustbin of the hospital and sent the blood samples of another person to the forensic lab. As a result, the report showed no alcohol traces of the accused.

Later, the state government suspended them based on the recommendation of the Maharashtra Medical Education Department commissioner.

Also read- Porsche Crash Case: Crime Branch Opposes Bail Plea Of Suspended Forensic Head Of Sassoon Hospital