HC puts 4 docs in dock for negligence

NEW DELHI: Four senior doctors, including the medical superintendent of a Rohini hospital, will face criminal proceedings for causing the death of a child by wrong diagnosis, after Delhi High Court on Monday refused to quash the FIR lodged against them for medical negligence. Justice Manmohan declined the plea by four doctors of Saroj Hospital and Heart Institute to quash FIR registered against them. They had approached HC, challenging the order of a Rohini court, directing registration of an FIR against the doctors, who claimed before HC that they had already been exonerated by the Medical Council of India. HC, though, did give them some leeway in the form of instructions to the police to inform the doctors three days in advance that they were being arrested, so that they could approach a suitable court for anticipatory bail relief. A Rohini metropolitan magistrate (MM) Vinod Yadav had recently ordered the cops to lodge an FIR against medical superintendent P K Bharadwaj, Gereesh Manwani, Jaideep Bansal, Surbhi Garg Kaushik and one Ravin Sharma, all doctors, working in this Rohini-based hospital. The decision to launch a criminal probe against them came on a complaint filed by the father of the child, Rakesh Sharma, whose repeated requests to the police had been of no avail. Sharma moved court last month and sought criminal action against those responsible for the death of his child Anirudh. According to Rajesh, his son was admitted to Saroj Hospital on August 25, 2005, when he woke up with a severe headache and nausea. After being treated in the ICU, Anirudh was diagnosed as suffering from T B Meningitis and was accordingly given medication for four days. When his condition deteriorated further, a distraught father was asked to shift his child to a better hospital, forcing him to rush Anirudh to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. Doctors at Ganga Ram told Sharma that his son was suffering from brain haemorrhage and despite their best efforts, Anirudh passed away on September 5, 2005. The father then lodged a complaint with Ashok Vihar police station and MCI, which zeroed in on Jaideep Bansal and removed him from its rolls for a week as penalty. Arguing before HC through counsels Vijay Aggarwal, Nitin Ahlawat and Rakesh Makhija, the doctors said the MM order of lodging an FIR was passed almost two years after the incident just to harass the doctors. Lawyers claimed their clients were not liable in any way as one of the doctors, Jaideep Bansal, had already been punished and the others exonerated by MCI. S N Misra, general secretary, Indian Medical Association, said, "Though I am not completely aware of facts of the case, an error of judgement is a possibility. It should not be held against the doctors. It is not medical negligence per se."
11 Jun 2008, 0133 hrs IST, Abhinav Garg,TNN
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