Goa Medical College: SR radiology gets suspension orders, HOD show-cause notice for alleged negligence in Congress leader death

Panaji  - The radiology department of Goa Medical College is now facing heat after the Goa Congress party alleged serious medical lapses that preceded the death of its senior leader Jitendra Deshprabhu. While the Head of the department has been now served a show-cause notice, a senior resident of the same department has been handed over suspension orders.

It is reported that the senior Congress leader and former MLA, Deshprabhu had died last month here, succumbing to pneumonia. However, alleging a COVID-18 coverup and lapses in the medical care provided to the leader, Congress party demanded an inquiry into the matter

"The Congress demands an impartial inquiry by a retired high court judge on [the] mysterious death of our leader," Chodankar said.

Following the allegations a senior doctor of the Goa Medical College and Hospital was on Friday issued a show-cause notice for alleged negligence in connection with the death of former Congress MLA Jitendra Deshprabhu on April 21, an official said.

The order, signed by Under Secretary (Health) Trupti Manerkar, has asked Dr Jeevan Vernekar, head of Radiology department of GMCH, why action should not be initiated against him for negligence on the part of his department. 

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"It is informed that when CMO who accompanied late Deshprabhu to the Radiology Department of GMCH, neither junior doctor nor senior resident doctor were present there do to the CT (computed tomography) scan, and the patient had to wait for 35 minutes," Manerkar has said in the order.

Vernekar has been asked to put forth his side within seven days.

Besides this, a senior resident doctor from the radiology department has also been handed over suspension orders. 

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The move has met with stern opposition from the resident doctors with the Goa Association of Resident Doctors (GARD), calling the order severly "demoralizing and demotivating to the serving residents of the institution who are already overburdened and overstressed working as frontline warriors in the ongoing pandemic."

"Citizens beef up this establishment in combating this pandemic, however, the suspension order meted in opposition to one in all our senior citizens is demoralizing," the association further added.