Case of ‘medical negligence’: Five years after brother’s death, man pins hope on Delhi HC

According to the petition, his younger brother Vishal Chand (33), was working in a private company in Jamshedpur. On May 20, 2011, at 10.30 pm, Vishal felt pain in his chest and was admitted to the emergency ward of a hospital.

Diagnosing the symptoms as that of gastritis, a senior surgeon prescribed anti-spasmodic and acidity regulating medicines. He returned home, only to experience similar symptoms the next day. While he was waiting in the outpatient department of another hospital, Vishal collapsed and died. The post-mortem report said he had died because of a heart attack.

“The death could have been prevented had the doctor followed the correct medical procedures for diagnosis. Despite high blood pressure, obesity, a family history of heart ailments, and irregular ECG, the doctor did not administer the correct treatment,” the petition stated.

Shishir then filed a complaint with the Bihar Medical Council, which in February 2014 dismissed his plea despite noting that his brother could have been admitted and prescribed ECG tests.

The next month, he appealed in the MCI, which in December issued a warning to the doctor asking him to be “more careful” in the future. After he filed two RTIs seeking details of the order, the MCI said the matter was still being considered.

Shishir then approached the Central Information Commission in December 2015, which directed the MCI to intimate the decision of its ethics committee. It also asked the council to verify the doctor’s medical degree.

According to the details provided by the MCI, the committee, in June 2015, had recommended to remove the doctor’s name from the medical register for six months as it was a case of misdiagnosis. But in April 2016, the MCI said no action could be taken against the doctor as the council, as per law, could not review its earlier decision. The medical degree too was not provided by the Bihar medical council and Ranchi University.

Meanwhile, Shishir had also approached the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, with independent expert medical opinions of some cardiac specialists. The doctors were unanimous that the deceased had required immediate medical attention.

As the case was still pending, Shishir recently moved the Delhi High Court to set aside the MCI’s decision, enhance the quantum of punishment and produce documents verifying the doctor’s credentials.

Justice V Sachdeva issued notice to the MCI, the doctor and Bihar Council of Medical Registration. The state council has to submit details of the case, including autopsy reports, on the next day of hearing on May 5.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Shishir said despite medical evidence such as the autopsy report and testimonies of doctors, besides other medical literature, no action was taken against the doctor as he was employed in a hospital owned by a private sector giant.