Baby death: Doctor gets MCI clean chit

Noida: The Medical Council of India (MCI) has given a clean chit to one of the two doctors accused of negligence in a case of baby death at Cloudnine hospital.
Earlier, the UP Medical Council had held two doctors guilty of negligence. A Noida-based couple had alleged that their first child was stillborn after there was a delay of over three hours the delivery day (March 9 last year). They had said the last check-up conducted a day before showed “everything normal”. On the basis of the ruling, doctors, Pratibha Singhal and Ratika Dinanath, were booked for death due to negligence.
In its order, dated February 6, the MCI, however, said, “Though unfortunate, but this event of sudden fetal distress occurred leading to stillbirth though all possible efforts were done by Dr Pratibha Singhal. Therefore, the ethics committee opines that there is no medical negligence attributed on behalf of Dr Pratibha Singhal. Hence, she may be exonerated from all charges of medical negligence levelled against her.” The couple has decided to challenge the order in Allahabad high court. A Cloudnine spokesperson said, “MCI report exonerates all charges against the doctor and confirms what we have been saying all along.”