TWO Fortis Hospital Gurugram doctors were arrested on Friday after the district medical board found them responsible for delay in administering proper treatment to a 51-year-old woman, who died of cardiac arrest at the hospital in 2017.
Chief cardiologist SS Murthy and emergency medical officer V Naga Raju were detained on Thursday night for questioning and arrested on Friday morning under Section- 304 (causing death by negligence) of the IPC. Later that day, the district court granted them bail on personal bonds of Rs. 50,000 each.
In 2017, an FIR had been registered against another Fortis doctor after the medical board accused the hospital of overbilling and negligence in the treatment of a 7-year-old child, Adya Singh, who later succumbed to dengue.
Murthy and Raju were booked in a case that was registered at Sushant Lok police station on February 20 after the medical board submitted its report. “The arrests have been made on the basis of the probe concluded by the civil surgeon. An extensive investigation was done by a SIT (special investigation team) before arresting the doctors. It is a bailable offence and, therefore, the court granted them bail,” said ACP Anil Yadav, who is heading the SIT.
A Fortis spokesperson said, “The matter is sub-judice. We are providing complete support to the authorities concerned.”
In its report, the medical board had said Murthy and Raju did not administer anti-platelet treatment as per protocol to the patient, Seema Ghai. Seema, a resident of Ardee City, was admitted on May 12, 2017, after she complained of chest pain.
According to the board’s report, Seema, a physiotherapist by profession, was rushed to the Sector 44-based hospital around 1.35 am on May 12. Her husband Mukesh claimed she was in full senses when they reached the hospital. An ECG was performed on her at 1.45 am.
The medical board report stated the doctors should have ideally given her an antiplatelet medicine for blood thinning immediately. The patient’s cardiac enzyme was sent for a test around 2.23 am, and its report too prescribed medicines to prevent a heart attack. Around 4.20 am, Seema was shifted to ICU, where she suffered a cardiac arrest 10 minutes later.
Around 5 am, the doctors informed her husband that her condition was very critical and she needed to be put on life support. Finally, an angiography was performed around 7 am which revealed 100 percent blockage in her left anterior descending artery. She was declared dead at 9.48 am.
According to the report, Raju “admitted” in front of the board that he did not administer anti-platelets. Murthy, on the other hand, claimed he had asked Dr. Devendra, the resident cardiologist, to provide “all necessary treatment” to the patient around 2.15 am. However, hospital records revealed “proper treatment” was not given, stated the board’s report, which termed this “gross negligence” that proved fatal for the patient.