Former surgeon convicted in case of medical negligence
A former surgeon was today convicted by a city magistrate in a case of medical negligence involving death of a woman in 1988.
Dr Prafulla Desai, former surgeon of Bombay Hospital, was sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment till the rising of the court and also asked to pay fine of Rs 50,000 to the victim's husband.
The complaint was filed by PC Singhi, a retired IAS officer whose wife Leela suffered from abdominal cancer in 1977. She was taken to Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York for removal of her uterus. Doctors there gave the opinion that she could not be operated upon because it could turn fatal.
After profuse vaginal bleeding, she was admitted to Bombay Hospital under treatment of Desai on December 9, 1987. He examined her on December 17 and recommended surgery.
According to the complainant, Desai asked his assistant Dr Mukherjee to open her abdomen and call him. After opening the abdomen, Mukherjee found it was inoperable. Desai was then in another operation theatre. When Desai came out, he asked Dr Mukherjee to close the abdomen.
Leela died on February 26, 1989, in Jaipur owing to complications arising out of the surgery.
Singhi filed the complaint on September 7, 1988. Police made Dr Mukherjee co-accused. However, he was acquitted by the court.
Singhi has also filed a civil case claiming damages from Desai. This case is pending in the Bombay High Court.
This is the first case of medical negligence in which evidence of a US doctor, Dr Ernest Greenberg, was recorded through the medium of video conference on April 1, 2003.
