Doctor, health centre owner booked for negligence causing toddler’s death

The Mumbai Police began investigating while JJ Hospital doctors started probing the Maxis case. Express photo by Nirmal Harindran

The Mumbai Police have arrested a doctor of Maxis Healthcare Centre and its owner for alleged medical negligence that led to the death of a toddler in 2016. Sankalp Shirsat, a doctor at Maxis Healthcare Centre, was arrested on May 15, and the owner, Adrin Mendonca, was arrested earlier this week, for the death of a one-and-a-half-year-old girl. The girl’s family has alleged that she died because the doctor administered a wrong injection.

The incident took place in December 2016 but the case was registered on May 5 this year, after the police submitted a detailed report on the incident prepared by JJ Hospital, which points out various medical procedures and norms the Centre did not follow. The police booked the accused based on the JJ Hospital report.

According to the complainant, Pradip Gaikwad (34), his one-and-a-half-year old daughter, Spandan, was suffering from high fever when he took her to Wadia hospital in December 2016, which put her on medicines. “Spandan had high fever, so we took her to a nearby hospital and admitted her on December 5, 2016. We brought her home on December 7, but her body temperature didn’t come down, so we took her to Wadia hospital,” Gaikwad told the police in his statement. Doctors at Wadia hospital prescribed medicines and Gaikwad was asked to take her home, police said.

On December 21, Spandan was readmitted in Wadia. “They took her sonography test and asked us to get an MRI done, for which they referred us to Maxis Healthcare Centre in Prabhadevi. We took her to Maxis on December 23. I still remember that she was smiling and playful during the journey,” said her aunt Sunita Sawant. On reaching, Dr Sankalp Shirsat took them to a room where there was no light, Gaikwad said in his statement. They were taken to the MRI room and then Dr Sankalp administered an injection to Spandan. “He removed the injection and after applying some medicine, re-administered it for the second time,” said Gaikwad in his statement.

According to police, Dr Shirsat administered the injection for the second time because pus had formed on the girl’s back. But immediately afterwards, Spandan started losing consciousness. Shirsat called for an ambulance and rushed Spandan to another private hospital in Dadar, where she was declared dead on arrival. “When her aunt Sawant confronted the doctor, he left without saying anything,” Gaikwad said in his statement to police.
Spandan’s body was taken to Sion hospital for the post-mortem, said police.

Gaikwad submitted a complaint against Maxis Healthcare Centre in December. The police began investigating while JJ Hospital doctors started probing the Maxis case. JJ Hospital handed over a report to the police highlighting several norms and medical prodecures that Maxis failed to follow. After this, Gaikwad’s complaint was converted into an FIR on May 5 this year. On May 15, Dr Shirsat was arrested, after which the owner of Maxis Healthcare Centre, Adrin Mendonca, was also arrested earlier this week.

Senior Police Inspector Diwakar Shelke from Dadar police station confirmed the arrests, saying, “We registered the case after JJ Hospital doctors handed us the detailed report, pointing out their (Maxis Centre’s) medical negligence. They have highlighted several norms that the Centre failed to follow. The doctor and the owner have been released on bail.” The duo were booked under sections 304 (A) (negligence) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

When contacted, Mendonca denied the allegations. He said, “This is an unfortunate incident and it shouldn’t have happened. But there wasn’t any negligence on our part.” Dr Shirsat did not respond to calls and messages.