Kanpur dentist booked for culpable homicide after 2 patients die post botched hair transplant
Kanpur: After the death of a 37-year-old Assistant Engineer following a botched hair transplant surgery, another similar case surfaced, where an engineer died after undergoing the same procedure at the same private clinic by a dentist in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur. Following complaints from the families of the deceased, the Police have registered a case of culpable homicide against the dentist.
The deceased brother, Kushagra Katiyar, who approached the Kanpur Police Commissioner, Akhil Kumar, on Thursday to file a complaint against the clinic and the doctor, who is currently absconding, alleged that his 30-year-old brother, Mayank Katiyar, had also undergone surgery on November 18 in the Empire clinic.
Hours later, he complained of chest pain and facial swelling after returning to his home in Farrukhabad the same day. However, he died the very next day, even after proper medical treatment.
Also read- Patient dies post hair transplant surgery, Kanpur MBBS doctor booked for negligence
PTI reported that Kushagra recounted that Mayank's face was badly swollen, and he experienced immense chest pain after returning home to Farrukhabad from the clinic.
"Dr Anushka had advised them to get an injection for the pain, but it offered no relief. A cardiologist found no heart-related issues, but Mayank tragically passed away while being transported back to Kanpur," Kushagra told the reporters.
Medical Dialogues had previously reported that a female MBBS doctor at a private clinic in Kanpur has been booked for causing death due to negligence after the death of a 37-year-old Assistant Engineer, who reportedly underwent a botched hair transplant surgery. The deceased patient's wife filed the complaint that led to the registration of an FIR against the doctor. In her statement, she alleged that the doctor confessed to an error during the hair transplant procedure and that proper post-operative care was not provided.
A few days later, another similar incident came to light, which has now led the police to seek legal opinion on whether to lodge a separate FIR for the death of Mayank Katiyar or to combine his case with that of Vineet Dubey's.
"Two police teams have been formed to locate Dr Anushka Tiwari, who has reportedly gone underground to evade arrest since Vineet Dubey's death became public," the officer said.
Not a Dermatologist but Dentist?
During the investigation of the case, the police found that the accused doctor, Anushka Tiwari, was not even a dermatologist or hair transplant surgeon but a dentist who performed these procedures on the two engineer patients, leading to their deaths.
Not only this, but the dentist reportedly responsible for the death of two engineers operated her private clinic along with her husband, Dr. Saurabh Tripathi, at the Rawatpur area of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, which lacked trained staff to assist with the surgical procedures.
This reveals that the doctor couple were deceiving patients by posing as hair transplant surgeons, despite both only holding Bachelor's degrees in Dentistry, as per a news report by Republic.
Raising concerns over such fraudulent medical practices, Dr. Akshay Dongardive, National President of the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), told Medical Dialogues in a press note that these actions pose serious risks to patients’ safety. He pointed out that some dentists and individuals with other non-relevant degrees across the country today are openly performing sensitive medical procedures like hair transplants and PRP therapy without any legal authority or proper medical training.
"Such procedures can only be performed by trained and registered MD Dermatologists, as they carry significant risks like bleeding, infection, and life-threatening allergic reactions. The NMC must move beyond mere paperwork and take strict, clear, and ground-level, enforceable actions. Licenses should be revoked, heavy penalties imposed, and legal action initiated against the offenders. There should be no compromise on public health or the dignity of the medical profession," he stated.
Who can perform a hair transplant?
According to the National Medical Commission (NMC), only a properly trained and licensed Registered Medical Professional (RMP), i.e. practitioner of Modern Medicine, is authorised to perform aesthetic procedures, including hair transplant.
In its guidelines on Aesthetic surgery and Hair Transplant procedures, the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) of NMC recommended MCh/DNB Plastic Surgery, MD/DNB Dermatology, with adequate grooming in dermatological surgical procedures for conducting hair transplantation surgeries.
Referring to the hair transplantation surgery, NMC mentioned, "Any procedure involving a skin incision for the purpose of tissue removal from the scalp or body, or to prepare the scalp or body to receive tissue, (e.g., incising the FUE graft, excising the donor strip, creating recipient sites) by any means, including robotics, is a surgical procedure."
"Such procedures must be performed by a properly trained and licensed Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP) i.e practitioner of Modern Medicine. RMPs who perform hair restoration surgery must possess the education, training and current competency in the field of hair restoration surgery like adequate knowledge in hair physiology, pathogenesis of scarring and non-scarring alopecia, anatomy and physiology of scalp including scalp vasculature and nerve supply, adequate clinical skill to identify patients who are candidates for hair transplant surgery and contraindications for hair transplant including active scarring alopecia, adequate knowledge and clinical skill pertaining to the medical treatment of alopecia and pre and post-transplant medical care, acquired basic knowledge and skill base in surgeries pertaining to skin and its appendages, adequate training and knowledge pertaining to medical issues and possible adverse reactions that can arise during the hair transplant surgery including basic life support and resuscitation measures."
Apart from this, the Apex medical body has also barred any untrained person from conducting such surgeries, noting that such procedures are not an "Emergency Surgery" and therefore, people cannot be allowed to conduct the surgeries under the pretext of "Exceptional Circumstances," as reported by Medical Dialogues.
