King George’s Medical University loses three doyens to Covid

LUCKNOW: In a huge loss to medical fraternity, three senior doctors associated with the King George’s Medical University (KGMU) succumbed to Covid-19 on Saturday.
A pall of gloom descended on KGMU soon after the news of the demise of three doctors – dean of dental department, Prof Anil Chandra, endocrinologist and former head of KGMU’s surgery department, Dr KD Verma, and former HoD, pathology, Dr Raj Mehrotra – spread on the campus.
Prof Chandra, 61, was admitted to KGMU’s Covid ward 10 days ago. Though he recently tested negative but post-Covid complications claimed his life.
“Both he and I had tested negative but complications took him away from us,” Prof Chandra’s wife told TOI over the phone. “He was a very humble and genuine human being. Simple to the core. I would put a lot of responsibility on his shoulders which he would carry out with ease. If I was tough on students, he would often plead their case with me and he knew I would listen to him. We shared a great professional and personal bond. The department and I will miss him badly,” said Prof AP Tikku, former dean of dental sciences and head of conservative dentistry and endodontics department. “He was my colleague for over 40 years, my junior and second in command in the department. It is a tremendous loss,” he added.
Prof Chandra had completed his BDS from KGMU and after years of teaching and practising at the university, he became the dean of dental department in 2019.
Former head of KGMU’s pathology department, Dr Raj Mehrotra, was another doctor to pass away on Saturday. He, along with his wife Dr Anita and son Rajat Mehrota, had also tested Covid-19 positive and were recuperating at KGMU.
The family said he died of post-Covid complications.
“He was tested positive on April 13 and his oxygen level was low. Since there were no beds available for him in Lucknow, we took him to Delhi after his daughter arranged for a bed there. Upon reaching Delhi after an eight-hour long journey by an oxygen-supported ambulance, he became restless and wanted to return to Lucknow. Somehow, a bed was arranged at KGMU and he was admitted to ICU but he could not be saved,” a family member told TOI.
“I knew Dr Raj since 1982. He was my teacher when I was doing MD. He was a lively and gentle person and was connected well with his students who were very fond of him,” said the head of KGMU’s microbiology department Prof Amita Jain.
“I had a close association with him and his family. His father Dr RML Mehrotra was also my teacher and his younger brother was my batchmate. I always knew that if I needed help, he would be there. We respected each other,” she added.
Former head of surgery department at KGMU, endocrinologist Dr KD Verma (82) also succumbed to Covid-19 on Saturday.
“He was a visionary who taught us how a teacher should really be. He had the vision of creating a separate endocrine surgery department out of surgery department back in 1968. He was among the first ones to bring nuclear medicine to Lucknow from Germany,” said head of KGMU’s general surgery department Prof Abhinav Sonkar.
“I last met him in March and he was fit. I knew him since 1987 when I was a student. He would frequently call me up to enquire how I was doing,” he added.
Dr Verma was the elder brother of former Lucknow University vice-chancellor Prof Roop Rekha Verma.