Woman’s death: Doctor faces probe, nursing home’s owner held in Greater Noida

GREATER NOIDA: The owner of a nursing home in Rabupura where three unsuccessful surgeries allegedly led to the death of a 28-year-old woman was formally arrested on Wednesday, a day after he had surrendered to police.
The woman, Poonam, had died at Yatharth hospital from excessive bleeding. Her family members had alleged that Rajendra Singh, the owner, was a quack and Dr Rajiv Chaudhary, whom he had called in to operate on her, was not qualified to perform the surgery. GB Nagar police said Singh does not hold a degree to practise allopathy. Health department officials said he possibly has a BMS degree but was not allowed to run a nursing home and treat patients.
The department also initiated an inquiry against Dr Chaudhary after police asked the CMO to submit a report on his degree, qualification and registration. Health officials said he holds an MBBS and MS degree from Bihar’s Nalanda Medical College and is registered with the Karnataka Medical Council, said Dr Pawan, in-charge of Jewar block tasked with conducting the inquiry.
“He is a qualified surgeon practising on-call,” said Dr Pawan. However, Dr Chaudhary is not registered with the GB Nagar department to enable him to practise on a private basis, he added.
Dr Chandan Soni from the health department also told TOI that Dr Chaudhary does not have the mandatory registration. Poonam’s family, meanwhile, claimed that the nursing home, whose registration was valid only till July this year, is actually registered in the name of another MBBS doctor.
Dr Pawan said he will visit the facility on Thursday to investigate the matter.
Singh and Dr Chaudhary were booked on Tuesday under IPC sections 304 (death due to negligence), 420 (cheating) and 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating).