Surgery on Wrong leg; Delay in referring patient: Medical Council suspends licences of two doctors over negligence, misconduct

Hyderabad: Taking stringent action against two doctors who have been found guilty of medical negligence and misconduct, the Telangana State Medical Council (TSMC) has suspended their licenses by removing them from the medical register for a period of 6 and 3 months and taking away their permanent registration certificate for the duration of the punishment imposed.

According to the medical council orders issued TSMC Chairman V Rajalingam on April 12, based on Regulation 8.2 of The Indian Medical Council (professional conduct, etiquette and ethics) Regulations of 2002, Dr Karan M Patel’s name has been removed from the medical register for six months for the surgery on the wrong leg while Dr CH Srikanth has been suspended for three months for allegedly delaying in referring a case to a higher centre.

A detailed probe was conducted in both cases after which the Council decided to suspend them.

The Case of Orthopaedic Surgeon:

As per the various media accounts, Dr Karan M Patel, an orthopaedic surgeon in Hyderabad has been found guilty of performing surgery on the wrong leg. The doctor performed surgery on the healthy right calcanium instead of the left which was noticed after the operation.

After realizing the blunder, the doctors operated on the left leg.

The victim had complained to the District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO). After an investigation, the Medical Council found the doctor guilty of negligence and an order suspending the doctor's license for six months was issued on Thursday by the Medical Council Chairman.

“Dr Karan M Patel bearing Regn No 64588 is found guilty of misconduct for performing surgery to Right Calcanium instead of left Calcanium which was noticed after the surgery,” one of the orders said, as quoted by Siasat.

The Case of Private Doctor:

In this case, the medical council has suspended the license of a private doctor - Dr Ch Shrikanth of Mancherial district for three months over neglecting his duties and delay in referring a Dengue patient to a better hospital resulting in his death.

The patient's family members had complained to the district collector that Dr Ch. Srikanth did not timely refer the patient to a hospital with better facilities and the delay resulted in the patient's death, reports IANS.

On the basis of the district collector's report, the Medical Council took up the investigation and ordered the suspension of the doctor's license for three months.

Appeal with the NMC:

Both doctors have been asked to surrender their permanent registration certificate and certificate of additional qualification to the Telangana Medical Council. However, the doctors can file an appeal against their suspension to the National Medical Commission within 60 days, adds The New Indian Express.