Justice seems to evade the family of Kapali Patne who allegedly died during a botched caesarean procedure at Santosh Hospital in Fraser Town, exactly two years ago.
Parikshit Dalal, the victim’s husband who is fighting a legal battle against the hospital authorities, says both the Karnataka Medical Council (KMC) and the Medical Council of India (MCI) “are spineless organisations as they are shielding doctors under inquiry”.
According to Dalal, Dr P Ashok, anaesthetist at Santosh Hospital where Patne died on April 16, 2010, has been practising in Karnataka for the past 25 years without registering with the KMC. He said Ashok had apparently registered himself with the Tamil Nadu Medical Council (TNMC) for his MBBS degree and had not registered his MD in anaesthesia till November 2010.
Registration mandatory
In August 2010, the MCI had made it mandatory for doctors across the country to register with the medical councils in the state they practised.
“Dr Ashok has tried to regularise his registration in Karnataka, post Kapali’s death. But the KMC has kept it pending till the completion of the inquiry. When we tried to contact Dr Ashraf, president of TNMC, over Dr Ashok’s registration, he wondered how the KMC could conduct a trial against a doctor registered in Tamil Nadu,” Dalal said.
Dr Ashraf told Deccan Herald that a decision on Dr Ashok would be taken after the TNMC council meeting. He did not specify the date.
The KMC, in its letter dated February 1, 2011, signed by Dr Vidyasagar, KMC registrar, said, “If a doctor is practising without registration, action is taken under Section 13 of the KMC Act and Section 15 of the Indian Medical Council Act. They will be treated as ‘quacks’.
“All the doctors working in Karnataka must register with the KMC, irrespective of where they have received their degrees. As for Dr Ashok’s registration, the KMC hasn’t held any meeting to discuss the matter. So no decision has been taken yet,” Dr Vidyasagar said.
When contacted, Dr Ashok said, “I have registered with the MCI in 1979 and there is no need for me to register in the state council. The MCI rule on mandatory registration in the state council is still not applicable.”
Electoral irregularities
Ever since the KMC elections were held in July-August 2011, no cases have been heard by the council, which is mired in controversies over electoral irregularities.
Medical Education Minister S A Ramdas on March 31, 2012, called for fresh elections.
“I am yet to discuss Dr Ashok’s case. An administrator will be appointed shortly till fresh elections are held,” he said.
DH News Service