doctors booked over medical negligence for woman’s death

On Monday, the Vikhroli Parksite police arrested two doctors for medical negligence that resulted in the death of a 35-year-old woman in 2019. The woman had her tonsils removed at a private hospital in Kanjurmarg where she was being treated. The police are in the process of summoning the doctors to appear for an investigation.

Manisha Pawar, a resident of Vikhroli (E), was suffering from tonsillitis. When the swelling subsided, a local doctor advised her to have her tonsils removed. Manisha went to the doctor in the last week of March 2019, and he said she could have the surgery. He referred her to Kanjurmarg’s Sai Samruddhi Hospital (E).

What happened

Her husband Jalinder Pawar took Manisha to the hospital on April 10, 2019 and they met Dr Chetan Shetty who advised the operation as soon as possible. Manisha got admitted to the hospital on April 11 around 7 am. ENT doctor Chetan shetty and anaesthetist Dr Pruthvi Shetty operated on her and at 11.45 am they told her family that she had to be kept in the ICU as there were some complications.

After half an hour, doctors told the Pawar family Manisha’s condition was deteriorating and she should be transferred to another hospital. Her family rushed Manisha to Aadhar Hospital, Naupada (Thane), where she was put on ventilator and declared dead at 6.40 pm. An ADR was filed at Naupada police station and the body was sent to JJ Hospital for post-mortem.

Negligence proved

A team of doctors from JJ Group of hospitals later examined whether Manisha’s death was caused due to medical negligence by doctors and the investigation proved this was so. They found there were no oxygen cylinders or ventilators at the Kanjurmarg hospital to stabilise her. The panel also found a delay by doctors in shifting her to a facility with life support system.

“As per the panel report we filed an FIR against the two doctors, Dr Chetan Shetty and Dr Pruthvi Shetty,” said an officer from Parksite police station. “My daughter was 10-years-old and son was 4 when this incident occurred. It took almost 3 years to book the doctors. I want justice for my kids and family which has faced such a huge loss due to the negligence of doctors,” said Jalinder Pawar, a dialysis technician in a Shahad-based private hospital.

The doctors have been booked under IPC Sections 304A (Causing death by negligence) and 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others). “We have lodged the FIR and will summon the doctors for investigation,” said Senior Inspector Diwakar Shelke of Parksite police station. This reporter went to the hospital at Kanjurmarg but didn’t get to meet Dr Chetan Shetty or Dr Pruthvi. Nursing staff said they are on-call doctors, only Dr Chetan has an OPD for patients. Attempts to find their contact details or those of the hospital authorities did not yield results.