Two Fortis docs held for negligence, get bail

GURUGRAM:Two senior doctors of Fortis hospital in Haryana’s Gurugram were arrested early on Friday for a “delay in administration of emergency medicines” to a 51-year-old woman, who died of cardiac arrest last year, police said.

The doctors were later granted bail by a local court and released in the evening.

A special investigation team headed by inspector Gaurav Phogat of Gurugram Police, which was investigating the case, found evidence of medical negligence against cardiologist Dr Suryanarayan Murthy and Dr Vajja Nagaraju, emergency officer, for the death of the woman identified as Seema Ghai on May 12 last year. “They were produced in a local court and granted bail in the afternoon,” Gurugram Police spokesperson Ravinder Kumar said.

“The matter is subjudice. We are providing complete support to the authorities concerned,” a hospital spokesperson said.

A case against four doctors of the Fortis Hospital was registered on February 20 under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code at the Sushant Lok police station on the complaint of the victim’s husband Mukesh Ghai.

Mukesh, an additional general manager in RITES Ltd, said in his complaint that no medicine was administrated to his wife between 1.35 am and 9am on May 12, which led to her death. “My wife suffered a cardiac arrest at 4.20 am and she was shifted to the ICU but no doctors accompanied her,” he said in his complaint to the police.

The death took place at 9.48 am even though the doctors told him that she was recovering.

Ghai termed the arrest of the doctors as significant as it is rare that medicos are arrested in cases of medical negligence.