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Thursday, May 14, 2009
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Medical team to probe negligence

Staff Reporter

Court orders action in Safdarjung Hospital amputation case

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has set up a team of medical experts to probe allegations of negligence by doctors at Safdarjung Hospital here in the treatment of an 11-month-old baby leading to amputation of his right leg.

A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice A.P. Shah and Justice Sanjiv Khanna set up the team after an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) of Delhi failed to give a final verdict on the allegation by family members of the baby.

The Court had taken suo motu note of the case on the basis of media reports about the amputation of the right leg of the baby.

The Court had then asked the ACMM to probe the allegation.

The ACMM in his report submitted to the Court said that “after considering all the material on record, I am of the view that no definite finding can be given regarding medical negligence on the part of the doctors who had treated the patient, Master Jai.”

However, the ACMM said that “it seems there was some lack of skill or medical acumen in the treatment or in diagnosing the condition of the child patient at the time of his discharge because no explanation has come regarding why and how the complication developed at the first place”.

The ACMM also blamed the patient’s parents for the delay in bringing him to hospital for treatment.

The team of experts would consist of the Head of the Department of Orthopaedics at All-India Institute of Medical Sciences or his nominee and Dr. J. S. Arora, a surgeon. The team would examine the patient and the papers relating to his treatment and submit their opinion to this Court within five weeks, the Bench said.

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