AIIMS has formed a panel to probe the incident, which took place in February.
In a purported case of medical negligence, a doctor at AIIMS allegedly performed a process required for dialysis treatment on a 30-year-old woman who had come to the hospital after a complication caused by an abdominal surgery at her hometown. Officials said the doctor, an assistant professor at the department of surgery, allegedly attempted to cover his tracks by “changing the documents”.
A committee was formed to probe the incident — which took place in February — under the chairmanship of dean Dr Y K Gupta, on the directions of the AIIMS director. Sources said an inquiry had been ordered by the head of the related unit in the department, and that the medical superintendent has already indicted the doctor.
On February 7, sources said the patient was taken to the minor operation theatre for an abdominal examination under local anaesthesia. “The doctor was told that the patient had complained of abdominal pain. It was only later that he realised a wrong surgery had taken place,” a source alleged.
Doctors said that although the woman had no history of kidney disease, the doctor treating her allegedly artificially created an arteriovenous (AV) fistula — an abnormal connection between an artery and a vein surgically created by doctors for use in dialysis in people with severe kidney disease.
Sources said that a conversation with the patient made the doctor realise that she didn’t suffer from any kidney ailment. A source claimed, “It was after the procedure took place and the doctor was talking to the patient about her medical history, that the doctor appears to have realised there had been a mistake.”
“The patient and the attendants were counselled regarding the adverse event and a corrective procedure was carried out the next day… A wrong surgery has been performed on the patient which has not been documented in the patient records but was mentioned in the nursing report book,” the preliminary inquiry report said.
The incident was reported to the unit head, Dr Sunil Chumber, who initiated an inquiry into the matter. It found that the doctor had performed a “wrong surgery and had tried to cover up by changing the documents”, the source claimed. The findings have been submitted to the Director.
Another inquiry ordered by medical superintendent Dr D K Sharma also indicted the doctor and suggested withdrawing the assistant professor “from all clinical work”, as per the source.