Nearly five years after a 51-year-old woman from Sector 47-D died of multiple organ failure after a gallbladder surgery at Santokh Hospital, Sector 38-A, police have booked the hospital owner and two more doctors for medical negligence.
The death certificate issued by PGIMER cited the cause of death as “septic shock with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome”, a life-threatening condition caused by severe infection. (Filesw)
The patient, Mamta, a homemaker, had approached the hospital on November 25, 2020, due to stomach pain.
After medical tests, Dr Kuldeep Singh, owner of the hospital, diagnosed her with gallbladder stones and advised immediate surgery. Following the diagnosis, Mamta was operated upon by Dr Gurnaj Singh on November 27, according to the police complaint by her husband, Madan Pal, formerly a senior assistant at the deputy commissioner’s office.
However, according to the complaint, Mamta continued to suffer severe abdominal pain, breathing difficulty, swelling and leakage near the drainage pipe after the surgery.
On November 30, Dr Gurnaj informed the family that there was a blockage in a tube near the liver and that a stenting/ERCP procedure was required.
Dr Ravinder Goyal was consulted, and the procedure was performed on December 1 at Shalby Hospital, Mohali, after which Mamta was brought back to Santokh Hospital, her husband stated.
“As my wife was continuously complaining of pain and discomfort, I kept requesting Dr Gumaj, Dr Ravinder as well as Dr Kuldeep to take proper care of her. During this time, I got to know that during the surgical process, on account of negligence, some other nerve was cut, causing the outflow of discharge. But the doctors kept saying that the surgery was performed well. They did not bother to take remedial steps for saving the precious life of my wife and finally advised me to take her to PGIMER,” he further narrated.
On December 6, Mamta was shifted to PGIMER, Chandigarh, in critical condition, and declared dead the next day.
The death certificate issued by PGIMER cited the cause of death as “septic shock with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome”, a life-threatening condition caused by severe infection.
UT’s medical board concluded negligence in treatment
Following allegations of negligence by the patient’s husband, the UT administration had set up a medical board in 2022 to probe the incident.
After going through the record submitted by the hospital, the board observed that after the laparoscopic cholecystectomy surgery on November 27, 2020, by Dr Gurnaj, a qualified surgeon, the patient continued to have pain and swelling.
A common bile duct (CBD) injury was suspected by Dr Gurnaj and Dr Ravinder Goyal, and later documented at Shalby Hospital, Mohali. Stenting was done and the patient showed transient improvement. She was discharged on December 5, 2020. However, her condition deteriorated and she was brought back to the hospital the same day.
The patient was examined by a medical officer, who has done her MBBS from Ukraine and not cleared her MCI examination for foreign medical graduates. Hence she was not qualified/registered to take care of any patient.
A central line was inserted by Dr Davinder, the trained anaesthetist. However, neither Dr Gurnaj (operating surgeon), Dr Ravinder Goyal (gastroenterologist) nor the treating physician examined this patient clinically. The patient was then discharged in a critical condition, as per the record.
Later, the patient succumbed due to multiple organ failure at PGIMER, Chandigarh, on December 7, 2020.
Based on the observations, the committee concluded that there had been negligence on the part of the treating physician, operating surgeon (Dr Gurnaj) and unqualified, unregistered medical officer while managing this critical patient.
Three years after the medical board’s opinion, police have now lodged an FIR under Sections 304-A (causing death by negligence) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code against Dr Kuldeep, Dr Gurnaj and Dr Ravinder at the Sector 39 police station.
On behalf of the hospital, Dr Gurnaj told HT, “I am not aware of the case registered by police and cannot comment on the matter immediately.”