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‘Erring’ doctor in trouble

Correspondent

Forceps left in woman’s abdomen

CUTTACK: Saroj Kumar Sethy, a doctor who took keen interest in removing a pair of forceps from the abdomen of a woman on Monday, was identified to be the ‘culprit’ who left the same instrument there after a tubectomy operation on the woman four years ago. While the relatives of the patient identified Dr. Sethy, the record books too confirmed it and Dr. Sethy, finding no escape route, admitted of committing the negligent act.

Hospital Superintendent J.K. Balabantray said that he already intimated the government about it admitting that the laxity was committed inside the hospital by one of its own doctors. He further said that a high-level fact-finding committee is now probing into the legal aspect of the issue. The committee has been asked to suggest what penal action could be taken against the erring doctor, the superintendent said.

“After receiving the report, we would be in a position to decide what action would be taken against the doctor for whose negligence, the entire doctors’ community was blamed,” he said. The committee, comprising three senior professors and a matron, is likely to submit its report to the Superintendent on Wednesday.

Dr. Sethy, an assistant professor of surgery department, was summoned by the committee and was quizzed for more than three hours on Tuesday.

Speaking to newsmen after deposing before the panel, Dr. Sethy admitted of committing the mistake but attributed the same to the outcome of heavy workload. “I take the entire responsibility of the negligence. It was unintentional, may be due to workload,” the surgeon said.

Sources indicate that as per the code of conduct of the Medical Council of India, the erring doctor, if found guilty, could face cancellation of his registration and lose his job or he may also invite some harsher penal action under certain sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Kanchan Bhoi, a mother of four children of Adashpur village of Cuttack district, went under the scalpel at the hospital on May 5, 2004. But she was repeatedly complaining of abdomen pain ever since the surgery. Last week an X-ray on Ms. Kanchan showed presence of a pair of forceps inside her abdomen. In May this year, doctors also removed a five-inch long forceps from the abdomen of a 25-year-old woman at a private hospital in Dhenkanal.

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