Botched up angioplasty: Supreme Court refuses to interfere with bail to Gujarat cardiologist

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to cancel bail granted to a cardiologist in Gujarat, who was arrested for carrying out unnecessary and botched up angioplasty operations on two PMJAY beneficiaries resulting in their death.

A bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and AS Chandurkar dismissed a plea of the Gujarat government challenging grant of regular bail by the high court on December 8, last year to Dr Prashant Vazirani.

“He is a doctor, a cardiologist, let him serve. You can keep a watch on him. If he's doing something, you can take recourse,” the bench told the Gujarat government standing counsel Swati Ghildiyal.

The Gujarat government said it was a serious case and two persons have lost their lives due to unnecessary operations carried out by the doctor.

“We have seen all the material. We will not interfere,” Justice Maheshwari said.

The top court also asked senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the doctor, “Why was he doing all this. You are a cardiologist, don't indulge in all this”.

On December 8, last year, the high court granted bail to Vazirani, who had carried out angioplasty on the victims at the Khyati Multispeciality Hospital in Ahmedabad.

On November 14, 2024, police registered three FIRs over the death of two PMJAY beneficiaries due to unnecessary and botched up angioplasty operation and arrested Vazirani who performed the heart procedure.

The city’s Vastrapur police had registered the cases and arrested the accused doctor.

Two cases came on complaints by the kin of the deceased, while the third was registered after the Chief District Medical Officer approached the cops on behalf of the state government.

According to the police, these accused “hatched a conspiracy to get undue financial benefit under the Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) which led to the death of two persons”.

Nagarbhai Senma (59) and Mahesh Barot (45) were among seven persons on whom angioplasty with stent placement was performed at the Ahmedabad hospital.

The duo, residents of Mehsana district, died at the hospital the same day. As per the FIRs, angioplasty was performed and stents were placed in the arteries of these two persons despite the fact that there was no need for the surgical intervention.

Moreover, these patients were not given proper post-operative care and no cardiologist was present at the time of the patients’ death, police had said.

The police further claimed that the hospital lied about the blockage in arteries to persuade the patients to undergo angioplasty and stent placement.

It had said the victims were operated upon and stents were placed just to exploit the PMJAY scheme as the government would pay the hospital for the surgeries it conducted on the scheme beneficiaries.

The relatives of the deceased, in their complaint, alleged the hospital kept them in the dark and conducted the heart procedure in haste to take undue benefit of the government scheme.

The Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY provides free health insurance of up to Rs 5 lakh per year to needy people.

As per the FIRs registered on the complaints of the kin the deceased, the hospital had arranged a free medical check-up camp at Borisana village in Mehsana district on November 10, 2024.

Following the camp, the hospital brought 19 villagers to its facility in Ahmedabad on November 11, 2024, saying they would have to undergo angiography.

After angiography, a process which involves the use of X-ray imaging to examine blood vessels and see if they are narrowed or blocked, doctors performed angioplasty on seven of them and also put stents on the same day.

Angioplasty is a procedure that widens blocked or narrowed coronary arteries to improve blood flow to the heart.