Taking action in a medical negligence case, which resulted in death of an 18-year-old girl, the Punjab Medical Council (PMC) has suspended the licence of a surgeon for three years. The incident occurred at Sahara Hospital, Patiala, in 2018.

The ethical and disciplinary committee of the PMC, on the findings of a team of experts from the PGIMER, Chandigarh, concluded that Dr Ramesh Kumar Goyal performed the surgery that he was not qualified to do as a general surgeon. Moreover, he himself had given the spinal anaesthesia that ultimately became the cause of the death of the victim.

The final decision regarding the suspension of the surgeon from the PMC for three years was reportedly taken in the general body meeting of the council. It is learnt that Dr Goyal admitted that he had performed the surgery under local anaesthesia, however, the committee found that was neither the standard procedure nor recommended for such surgery in any textbook or medical literature.

Besides, a team of experts was of the view that it was not reasonable for a general surgeon to operate the case of an ovarian cyst without consulting a gynaecologist, especially in the urban areas where such doctors were easily available.

Consequently, the committee was of the view that Dr Goyal committed an act of negligence, which resulted in the death of the 18-year-old girl, therefore, the licence of the surgeon was suspended for 36 months.

Rajvinder Singh, father of the deceased, said, “Majority of the victims of medical negligence rarely get justice due to lack of knowledge about the profession. But I am satisfied that some action has been taken against the doctor.”

Source: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/council-suspends-surgeons-licence-over-negligence-229579