Probe going unfavourably for gynaec who performed 'emergency procedure' on HIV+ woman, say insiders
Probe going unfavourably for gynaec who performed 'emergency procedure' on HIV+ woman, say insiders
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More than a month after MiD DAY reported that a doctor at Pune Cantonment Board's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Cantonment General Hospital skirted norms to abort an HIV positive woman's four-and-half-month foetus, a preliminary inquiry into the incident suggests the doctor may have been guilty.
On April 24, Dr Archana Gupta had brought an HIV positive pregnant woman to the Cantonment hospital in what she said was an emergency. The doctor said the patient miscarried during the emergency procedure.
The hospital staff alleged it was an abortion and the 20-week-old foetus was a girl.
It was alleged that the doctor deliberately hid the patient's HIV status from the staffers and also that she performed an abortion as it was a girl child.
The staffers have told investigating officers that this is the second time such an incident has happened, and that something similar had happened on January 30 as well.
Anti-doc statements
"On the first day of investigation, many from the nursing staff and Class IV workers gave statements against the doctor. Firstly, they said that the doctor gave the patient a drug to induce labour. This means it wasn't an emergency but a deliberate attempt to abort," said a senior hospital official on condition of anonymity.
"Secondly, it has been found that Dr Gupta admitted the patient under another doctor but asked the latter not to check her during the alleged emergency but merely write down what Gupta had to say about the case."
In the earlier incident too staffers alleged that an HIV positive woman was brought to the hospital in an alleged emergency and then given drugs to induce labour in their presence.
"In fact, during that time the patient even had side-effects like severe vomiting that usually follows when that drug is given to forcibly abort through fake labour. However, what is still unknown is the motive of the doctor. We don't know yet if she has indeed done so," said the official.
The inquiry officers are yet to interview the two patients and their families. Dr Nitin Bilolikar, resident medical officer at Aundh civil hospital, said that the report was expected by Wednesday.
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