Maharashtra: 7 Yavatmal GMCH doctors booked for 16-year-old’s death

YAVATMAL: Seven doctors at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Yavatmal were on Thursday booked under sections 304 (A) and 34 of the IPC by Lohara police following a complaint by mother of a 16-year-old, who died allegedly due to medical negligence on September 18, 2021.
Those booked include assistant professor Dr Raju Gore, junior residents Dr Danish Sheikh, Dr Madhujit Jha, Dr Jitendra Yadav, all from surgery department, and Dr Pradnya Kokule, Dr Aniket Nitnavare and Dr Priyanka Rathod, all from medicine department.
As per sources, one Ratnamala Darode, a resident of Shivaji Nagar in the city, had taken her son Sanjay to the GMCH at 7.30am on September 18, 2021, after he started vomiting profusely.
Sanjay was admitted in the casualty ward initially. He was subjected to sonography followed by administering saline. Later, he was shifted to surgery ward at 3.30pm the same day.
However, the doctors started squabbling over whether surgery department or medicine department should treat the patient. Finally, the patient was shifted to the medicine ward. However, the boy breathed his last there in the night.
Claiming that her son died due to doctors’ negligence, the mother lodged a complaint with dean, who set up a three-member probe panel. The panel reportedly found the doctors guilty of dereliction of duties leading to the boy’s death. Based on the panel’s report, Ratnamala lodged the FIR with police.
When TOI contacted dean Dr Milind Fulpatil, he declined to comment saying he was on leave.
Sources say the dean should have forwarded the inquiry report to the police on his own soon after receiving it. The report was handed over to police only after they sought it.
Meanwhile, GMCH senior doctors have questioned the manner in which the police have registered FIR against the seven doctors.
The dean has sent a letter to superintendent of police Dilip Patil Bhujbal terming the FIR illegal and in violation of the GR No.20210 dated March 26, 2010.
Bhujbal told TOI that the FIR was registered on the basis of the inquiry report and complaint by the aggrieved mother.
On Friday, Lohara police have written to the dean to investigate the matter through a competent probe panel and submit the findings to them.