The Association of Medical Consultants (AMC), an umbrella body of more than 11,000 consultant doctors in Mumbai, has demanded the immediate reinstatement of eye surgeon Dr. Arun Chaudhari, who was terminated after hospital-acquired eye infections affected seven patients at the HBT Trauma Care Hospital.

Dr. Lalit Kapoor, a senior member of the AMC, said, “These honorary surgeons work in bad conditions, with a lack of staff and other issues. The case of the eye infections shows that these surgeons are bearing the brunt of the lack of hygiene and other protocols in civic hospitals.” He said nearly 30 honorary doctors from across the BMC-run peripheral hospitals came together on Sunday to discuss the issue and further steps. “First and foremost, we want the BMC to reinstate Dr. Chaudhari. We have decided to take legal recourse if that is not done,” Dr. Kapoor said, adding that the AMC is also drafting a letter to Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta highlighting the problems.

Doctors from the general surgery department have stopped conducting elective surgeries at the HBT Trauma Care Hospital. An official from the hospital said five surgeries were carried out on Monday.

Even as three inquiries have already been conducted, the doctors are demanding an independent and thorough inquiry in the case, wherein seven patients suffered from varying degree of vision loss after undergoing eye surgeries at the hospital on January 4. “The commissioner has pronounced a professional death for the three doctors, including Dr. Chaudhari. But there is more to the matter that needs to be looked into,” one doctor said.