Patient Dies After Impersonator Posing as KGMU Doctor Directs Family to Transfer Her to Private Hospital

Lucknow: In a shocking incident, an unidentified man impersonating a doctor at the trauma centre of King George’s Medical University (KGMU) allegedly deceived a patient’s family. The accused reportedly instructed the family to transfer the patient to a private hospital on IIM Road, where the patient tragically passed away two days later.

In response, KGMU authorities have begun an investigation into the alleged fraud case and called the attendant of the deceased to the campus, to help identify the fraudulent doctor who identified himself as 'Dr Vinod'.

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The incident began after a 65-year-old woman was brought to the hospital with multiple injuries following a road accident. She was admitted on November 30 after sustaining fractures in multiple bones and experiencing blunt-force trauma to her chest. Although she received medical care, her vital showed no improvements and orthopaedic surgery was delayed due to instability in her abdomen.

Later, she was discharged from KGMU’s Trauma Centre at the insistence of her family on December 15 and succumbed to her injuries at the private hospital on December 17.

The family alleged that a man, claiming to be a doctor named "Dr Vinod" from the Trauma Centre, advised them to move the patient to a private hospital. However, the hospital authorities clarified that no doctor with this name was working at the institute. The administration further claimed that the person might have been a middleman who was misleading them to a private hospital for benefits. 

The son of the deceased patient told HT, "Dr Vinod said that the treatment would not go further here, and to take my mother to another hospital. She died at the private hospital on Tuesday."

A KGMU spokesperson Dr KK Singh told The Daily, “Sadly, the patient has expired, but we have asked the patient’s son to return to the hospital after completing their last rites, to help us try and identify this person in question who is manipulating patient and their families."

“On December 15, the attendants decided to take the patient elsewhere. Counselling was done but attendants were insisting so under duress LAMA (leave against medical advice) was given with written consent, which was duly signed by her son and son-in-law. We are unable to comment on what happened to the patient after she was discharged from here, but will investigate this thoroughly,” said Dr Singh.

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