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Journalism of Courage
A leading UK cardiologist who had performed hundreds of procedures, Dr Narendra John Camm’s resume was enough to earn him a post at Damoh’s Mission Hospital in January with a monthly salary of Rs 8 lakh. By mid-February, though, he had quietly resigned and checked out of his hotel.
Now, Madhya Pradesh police are probing allegations of fraud after the Child Welfare Committee red-flagged claims that at least seven patients died under his care. An FIR was filed on April 5 after the local Chief Health Medical Officer (CHMO), Dr M K Jain, complained that Camm performed angiography and angioplasty at the hospital despite not having the requisite registration.
Police say their probe will focus on whether Narendra John Camm is, in fact, an individual named Narendra Vikramaditya Yadav, who allegedly stole the identity of a UK-based cardiologist and professor.
Superintendent of Police Damoh Shrut Kirti Somavanshi told The Indian Express, “His MBBS degree is under scrutiny, and his Medical Council registration appears fraudulent. Additionally, no records were found for individuals named Narendra John Camm or Narendra Vikramaditya Yadav with any Indian medical agency. Neither the hospital nor the hiring agency verified these certifications, which raises serious concerns.”
The accused has been booked under sections 318(4), 338, 336(3), 340(2), 3(5) of the BNS and Section 24 of the Madhya Pradesh Ayurvigyan Parishad Adhiniyam, 1987. “He was arrested from Prayagraj, UP, by our team on Monday evening. We got information on his whereabouts from our sources. We also contacted everyone he was in touch with for the last six months to ascertain his movements,” the SP said.
According to police, prima facie, their probe has revealed that in 2014, the then Union Health Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey named Yadav in a Lok Sabha list of 50 doctors guilty of professional misconduct, barring him from practice for five years.
As per a Telangana police press note, in 2019, Yadav was arrested near Chennai after more than 100 employees of a private hospital alleged he had withheld their salaries.
Separately, he was linked to the alleged wrongful confinement of a 61-year-old critical care expert from the UK at a villa in 2019.
SP Somavanshi said, “It appears Yadav was involved in all these cases. We are getting details.”
On Monday, Pushpa Khare, the Mission Hospital in charge, seemed exhausted from visits by the local police. Ever since the case came to the spotlight, she has been trying to defend why “Dr Camm” was hired in the first place. “Nobody suspected him of being a fake doctor. He was good at his job and acted like a big-time professor. He mostly kept to himself, attended to his patients and stayed in a local hotel,” she told The Indian Express.
Khare first suspected something was off when a portable echo machine went missing. “I filed a police complaint against him on March 12. He left without saying a word, and a portable echo machine was missing from the hospital,” she claimed.
Khare denied that seven patients died under his care. “We can say there were two-three deaths, not seven. The agency which hired him should have checked the credentials. We have also complained against the agency in Bhopal,” she said.
After the allegations came to light, a team headed by the CHMO, along with District Immunisation Officer Dr Vishal Shukla and District Health Officer Dr Vikrant Singh Chauhan, prepared a report. It states that the hospital management “provided documents related to Dr Camm’s qualifications, but the investigation team found, at first glance, that these documents did not bear the registration numbers of the Medical Council or universities, which are typically mentioned in all university/Medical Council documents”.
The report states that the documents submitted by the hospital indicate “his medical registration certificate was issued by the Andhra Pradesh Medical Council”. “However, as of today, Dr Narendra John Camm’s name does not appear in the registration records on the official website of the Andhra Pradesh Medical Council… rendering his registration prima facie suspicious. Furthermore, without registration with the Madhya Pradesh Medical Council, no doctor can legally provide services in Madhya Pradesh as per the rules, and Mission Hospital has not provided any documents in this regard,” the report stated.
It was Child Welfare Committee member Deepak Tiwari who first got wind of allegations of deaths at the hospital and rang up the authorities.
“I received information that several deaths took place under this doctor. We got in touch with the families, and I wrote to the authorities for action, but they dragged their feet. We managed to track his identity and found that his real name is Dr Narendra Vikramaditya Yadav,” he claimed.
One of the first to reach out to Tiwari was Krishna Patel, whose grandfather Yadav allegedly treated. “My grandfather, Asha Ram Patel, was admitted with chest pain. Dr John was arrogant and demanded Rs 50,000 in cash for tests. When he refused to give us test reports, we admitted him to Jabalpur. That’s when I approached Tiwari and the local CHMO,” he claimed.
Sabhana Parveen, daughter of former SHO Israel Khan, alleged, “My father died under Dr John’s care on January 17. He was earlier seeking treatment at Jabalpur for a heart-related condition. He wanted to be closer to home, so we admitted him to this hospital. On the day he was admitted, his condition worsened. He got better after he took medicines prescribed by the Jabalpur doctor, but the next day, he was prescribed a different treatment by Dr John and he passed away.”
Rahisa Beg is among the patients who allegedly died after a surgery at Missionary Hospital. Her son, Nabi, claimed, “On February 12, my mother had a heart attack. The district hospital referred us to Missionary Hospital. Dr Camm found 80 percent heart blockage, requiring angioplasty. We suggested moving her to Bhopal, but he was evasive. After paying Rs 50,000, the procedure was done on February 15. She died 30 minutes later. Treatment reports were denied. We took her body home and later learned the doctor was a fraud.”
SP Somavanshi said the hospital administration is also under investigation. “While the inquiry remains open, it’s notable that no complaints about the deaths were lodged at the time they occurred. Later, CWC member Tiwari came forward, but no family members of the deceased have done so. A medical panel from Jabalpur Medical College is investigating the allegations.”
