Two doctors face 15-day suspension over negligence

The Delhi Medical Council has banned two doctors from practising from for two weeks for alleged medical negligence in a 2008 case at a private hospital.

“We recently passed an order in which we have decided to strike off the names of two doctors from the state medical register of the DMC for 15 days. Their names will be restored after this given period. The doctors concerned can file appeal within a month of the notice being issued,” said Dr Girish Tyagi, registrar of Delhi Medical Council (DMC).

Currently, it is mandatory for all doctors practising in Delhi to be registered with the DMC.

The DMC had received a complaint in 2011 in which a woman had claimed that the lower part of her body was paralysed after she was “wrongfully administered” anaesthesia at the time of her delivery at Deepak Nursing Home in Jagat Puri. 

“The woman had complained that because of the wrongful administration of the injection, she was confined to bed even after two and a half years of her delivery. She was in right health before being admitted, she had alleged,” said Dr Tyagi.

While one of the doctors is a gynaecologist, the other one is the anaesthetist. According to the complaint, the anaesthetist was illegally practising at the private hospital as he was already attached to a government hospital at the same time.“We have forwarded a copy to the state health department to probe the matter further. It would not come under the ambit of the DMC to inquire into this,” said Dr Tyagi.

Error of judgement

The DMC said if an MRI was performed had been immediately when the a complication was observed, it might have not resulted in the complete loss of sensation in the lower part of the woman’s body. The woman had complained of acute pain after the delivery. 

However, the opinion of a neurological expert was sought only the next day. The maximum chances of recovery in post-spinal anaesthesia are eight to 10 hours, which had already lapsed in this patient’s case. 

“The medical team should have acted swiftly. This is a case of error of judgement which constituted an act of medical negligence,” said a DMC source DMC.

Meanwhile, the doctors have claimed that the patient suffered from a condition called spina bifida, an anatomical defect present from birth. 

Also, the gynaecologist has claimed the anaesthetist under the scanner agreed to give the injection on “humanitarian ground” after the anaesthetist attached to the hospital said he would not be able to turn up for two hours.
 Since it was an emergency case, the help of the government hospital’s anaesthetist was sought, the gynaecologist has claimed.