The Medical Council of India (MCI) on Tuesday temporarily removed 13 doctors from its medical records due to complaints filed against them. Out of the 13 doctors, seven are from Delhi, three from Karnataka, two from Tamil Nadu and one from Uttar Pradesh. The temporary removal period ranges from one month to two years depending on the severity of the case.

Out of the seven practicing doctors who are removed in Delhi, three are from a charitable hospital called Jaipur Golden hospital in Rohini while three are from a private hospital called Krishna hospital in Madangir. The seventh in the list, Dr. Yash Nigam, is a private practitioner.

In December 2006, a 47-year-old patient from Haryana, Mulkraj Dhameja, underwent kidney transplant at the Jaipur Golden hospital. Due to post-surgery complications he filed a case of medical negligence against the hospital with the Delhi Medical Council (DMC) in January 2008.

The case was reviewed by the disciplinary committee which consists of medical practitioners specialising in the field concerned apart from a chairman, a lawyer, one MLA, an eminent person and a Delhi Medical Association representative. After the investigations, in 2009, the DMC ruled out negligence on the part of the doctors or the hospital. Their report said that the time when the surgery was conducted, the hospital was not registered under the Organ Transplant Act as its certificate had expired.

DMC registrar Dr. Girish Tyagi, said, “The certificate of registration for performing renal transplantation was issued to the hospital in August 2001 which expired in August 2006. The hospital applied for renewal of the certificate but it was not renewed as the hospital did not have a full time nephrologist.”

Jaipur Golden hospital’s Medical Superintendent Dr. D K Baluja said, “We applied for the renewal of the certificate for organ transplant five months in advance but it was the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) who could not provide the certificate in time. We have a regular program called the renal transplant programme running. We cannot stop it or else it becomes a matter of life and death for the patient.”

Unhappy with the DMC ruling, the complainant went to the MCI which is a higher authority. They upheld the DMC’s findings and removed the doctors’ name temporarily from the Indian Medical Register (IMR) for one month each.

The doctors involved are Dr. D.K. Baluja (Medical Superintendent), Dr. R.K. Saxena, and Dr. U.C.D. Nautiyal.

The hospital, however, went to the High Court and a stay order was issued on the case on Tuesday.

In another case, three doctors working with Krishna Hospital were removed from the IMR for a period of six months each by the MCI for medical negligence which led to the death of a 22-year-old woman.

Mamta, a resident of Sangam Vihar in south Delhi, was three months pregnant and was suffering from bleeding from her vagina when she approached Dr. Archana Kothari, a gynecologist with the hospital in May 2007. The doctor gave her medication based on her ultrasound reports and referred her to Safdarjung hospital.

Mamta visited Dr. Archana again two days later complaining of excessive bleeding. She was admitted in the hospital and her child was aborted. The doctor discharged her in the evening but Mamta collapsed in the hospital corridor. She was rushed to Safdarjung hospital where they declared her ‘brought dead’.

The post mortem report said that her uterus had ruptured and a case of medical negligence was filed with the DMC. The DMC ordered removal of the three doctors concerned – Dr. Archana Kothari, Dr. Pramod Batra and Dr. Pradeep Kharbanda (Medical Director) - for three months.

The doctors approached the MCI challenging the DMC’s order. The MCI examined the case and instead extended their removal from three to six months.