FIR against Former PHC doctor 18 months after 9 year old death's

Maharashtra: A former medical officer at a Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Maharashtra's Raigad district has been booked for alleged medical negligence after a nine-year-old girl died on January 22 last year following an adverse reaction to anti-leprosy medicines administered during a screening campaign.

Police alleged the doctor failed to discontinue the medication despite the child developing warning signs, leading to the registration of an FIR.

The case pertains to the death of the Class IV student of a government ashram school in Varvane village and a resident of Tambdi village, who had attended a leprosy screening programme at the PHC in Kamarli village in January last year. According to police, her condition deteriorated after she was administered anti-leprosy medication, and she later died during treatment.

According to the FIR, the girl was identified as a suspected leprosy case during a health screening programme and was later started on multidrug anti-leprosy treatment under the state's leprosy elimination campaign. During treatment, she developed persistent fever and was admitted to multiple government hospitals before being shifted to a tertiary care hospital, where she died on January 22, 2025.

The FIR also refers to a medical negligence committee report submitted by the Alibaug district hospital's Civil Surgeon in July 2026, which reportedly found that laboratory investigations had indicated liver damage early during treatment. The committee observed that the anti-leprosy drug should have been discontinued at that stage but found no evidence that it was stopped.

Meanwhile, the girl's family has alleged that she was wrongly diagnosed with leprosy and administered medication without their consent. They have also demanded that other health department and Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) officials be investigated for their alleged role in the case.

According to The Times of India, police said the former medical officer has been booked under Section 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with causing death by a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide. Investigators alleged that the doctor had acted negligently without taking necessary medical precautions and without following the prevailing medical standards, resulting in the girl's health condition deteriorating and causing her death."

Despite the registration of the FIR, the girl's family staged an indefinite hunger strike outside the Pen Sub-Divisional Office, claiming they had not been provided a copy of the FIR. The protest received support from local activists and villagers, who demanded transparency and further action in the case.

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