M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, April 29: Following the criminal charge filed by Binod Barai, husband of a deceased patient Anjali Devi of Manika block in Latehar district, with the town police station, the doctors of the MMCH Daltonganj are filled with resentment and panic.
Anjali Devi died on the way to Ranchi on April 26 and the FIR was filed on April 27. On April 26, she gave birth to a daughter kid, and it was a routine delivery with only a minor incision. She later suffered from postpartum haemorrhage.
SDPO Surjit Kumar shared the information about FIR against one doctor and ten other paramedics taking the total to 11.
The count is 11, as reported by lagatar24.com on Thursday, but it now includes all four doctors at the MMCH Daltonganj, causing a flurry of activity in the doctors’ company late Thursday night.
Shila Kumari, Satvada, Kausar Parween, J Ram, and others are among the remaining seven nurses and occupational therapists.
The doctors met late Thursday night at the Gol Ghar and plan to meet again today, Friday, during the day to devise a strategy to end the criminal case.
According to accounts, there is no public support for the doctors. Many locals told this correspondent that if the physicians create up trouble for their own ‘undoing,’ they would be left alone.
The people complain that money is requested for every single medical service at the MMCH Daltonganj. An amount of Rs. 2,000 is said to have been demanded in the case of Anjali Devi. The MMCH Daltonganj is once again ruled by touts.
Dr. Anil Kumar, the civil surgeon in Palamu, claimed he has also been told that money was asked from Anjali Devi’s family. “We are doing a thorough investigation into the matter,” he said.
A K Mahatha, the officer in charge of the town police station, revealed that four doctors, Qader Perwez, Preeti Kumari, Akash Kumar, and Vijeta, have been accused of the negligence that led to the death of Anjali Devi.
Notably, Anjali Devi was admitted in the unit of Dr Qader Perwez. The hospital management placed him in the team of the doctors which conducted the post mortem of the patient.
The MMCH management issued an order in regard to the formation of the medical board for the post mortem of Anjali Devi. The board comprised 6 doctors namely John F Kennedy, Vijay Kumar Singh, Qader Perwez, Abdul Ahad, Gaurav Vishal and Sanjay Kumar.
However, when the hospital realised its blunder in making a named accused in the medical board entrusted to conduct the post mortem, it quite hastily issued another order replacing Qader Perwez with another doctor Seema Kumari.
Seema Kumari neither joined the medical board nor did she take part in the conduct of the post mortem of Anjali Devi. She told this correspondent that she was not there in the conduct of the post mortem.
Sources said this was not the only faux pas but one more glaring discrepancy appeared. The post-mortem was scheduled on the name of Anju Devi instead of Anjali Devi.
One of the 6 doctors’ medical board for the post mortem of Anjali Devi, Dr Vijay Kumar Singh said the error is really unfortunate. We post mortemed Anjali Devi.
Dr. Singh further said, “The medical board follows the inquest prepared by the police because they are in charge of the post-mortem, and we are confident that the name of the dead in the inquest is correct.” Such an error in the name of the deceased, according to this top doctor, is completely avoidable.
Dr. Dilip Kumar Singh, medical superintendent of MMCH, said, “We don’t know why the relatives of Anjali Devi filed the FIR when we were taking severe action.”
The medical superintendent stated that a panel of doctors had been formed to investigate what and how things went wrong with the patient Anjali Devi.
“We learned from the panel of the inquiring team of doctors that there was carelessness at the level of nurses and employees, and we will take strong measures against anyone proven to be negligent in their duties,” he said.
The medical superintendent went on to say that there should not be two actions for one wrong doing, and that filing a criminal case would be pointless if we were going to take strong action against the erroneous personnel responsible for Anjali’s death.
Palamu Civil surgeon Dr Anil Kumar said time has come when everyone has to put in his best for the welfare of the patients coming to the MMCH Daltonganj. There is no room for complacency and negligence and those found guilty of it will have to face the music.
