A tragic patient death following a routine procedure led to disciplinary action against three doctors. The Delhi High Court intervened, emphasising that suspending a doctor’s registration is akin to "civil death". It exonerated a consulting radiologist who had been wrongfully accused of falsifying records.
Irrefutable Facts
A young patient presented with bleeding and was scheduled for ultrasound-guided dilation and curettage (D&C). The gynaecologist performed the procedure, with a radiologist providing continuous ultrasound guidance.
Hours after discharge, the patient collapsed in the hospital corridor and died. The autopsy revealed a uterine perforation and three litres of blood in the abdominal cavity.
The Dispute
The patient’s family alleged fatal negligence during the procedure. Although the State Medical Council eventually cleared the radiologist of medical negligence, it suspended him for three months for allegedly falsifying records.
In his defence, the radiologist showed that the hospital and gynaecologist had manipulated the records to show two scans instead of one. Mobile call logs proved that the radiologist was not even at the hospital during the alleged second scan.
Court's View
The High Court quashed the suspension, ruling that a finding of falsification requires clear, criminal intent and precise evidence. It noted that during an ultrasound-guided D&C, evaluation is continuous, making disputes over the number of scans irrelevant.
The court declared that suspending a doctor's licence amounts to "civil death" and must not be done arbitrarily to justify punishment. Furthermore, the court observed that discrepancies in hospital letterheads raised strong suspicions about the credibility of the medical records.
Prevention is Better Than Cure
Do not manipulate medical records. It is unethical, constitutes professional misconduct, and may even be a crime that carries the risk of imprisonment.
Source : Dr. Pramod Batra v/s Medical Council of India & Anr. – 17MLCD (j12) – January 2023 Issue
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