Medical negligence: Remand of four doctors extended

Doctors say they were arrested before patient’s death.

LAHORE:

Judicial Magistrate Naqeeb Shehzad on Friday extended by three days the physical remand of four doctors accused of removing a child patient’s drip on July 1 which his father says caused his death.

The doctors were showered with rose petals by nearly 25 doctors, including Young Doctor’s Association (YDA) Punjab representatives, when they were brought to the district court.

Gowalmandi police presented YDA Mayo Hospital chapter president Dr Matloob, YDA Punjab joint secretary Dr Usmanul Haq, YDA Mayo Hospital chapter general secretary Dr Tajammul Butt and Dr Adil and sought a 10-day physical remand. They pleaded for time to arrest Dr Usman, Dr Sulaiman, Dr Asad and Dr Hannan, also named in the complaint. They also said they needed time to obtain the branula used to inject the deceased and CCTV footage from hospital.

The judge granted a three-day physical remand and directed the Investigation Officer (IO) to complete the investigation by July 9.

Shahid Iqbal Babbar, counsel for Dr Matloob, Dr Usmanul Haq and Dr Adil, requested the court not to extend the remand since the investigation officer had no substantial evidence against them.

Babbar argued that Section 302 (murder) did not apply in the case. “If Section 302 applies to this case then it should also apply to traffic accidents,” he said.

He said that the doctors bore the patients no grudge and were being wrongly implicated. “Is it a crime to struggle for one’s rights, as Dr Tajamal and others are doing?” he said.

“Has the IO collected any evidence that these doctors removed the drip?” he said. “The IO has even failed to present the autopsy report.” He said that the child had died when the accused doctors were neither assigned to the ward nor were present there. He also said that the doctors were arrested at around 9:30pm from Services Hospital while the FIR stated that the child had died at around 10pm.

He said that the doctors would join the investigation if any evidence was brought against them.

Malik Awais Khalid, counsel for Dr Tajammul, said his client was travelling from Lahore to Sialkot. The judge asked the doctors if they had removed the drip. They said they could not even think of doing so. The judge asked the IO about progress in the investigation. He responded that police had visited the hospital to collect evidence but the hospital management had locked the relevant room after it was vandalized by some doctors.

The FIR was registered on the complaint of Muhammad Afzal, the father of deceased.

It accuses Dr Usman, Dr Sulaiman, Dr Adil, Dr Assad, Dr Hannan, Dr Usmanul Haq and Dr Tajammul of actions leading to the death of his son who had been suffering from dehydration.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2012.