Delhi doctor who erred in calculating delivery date barred for 90 days

The DMC, a statutory body that governs the practise of modern medicine in the state, has struck the name of the erring doctor—Dr Shakuntala Kumar—off the state medical register for 90 days.

A city gynaecologist was found negligent by the Delhi Medical Council (DMC) on Tuesday for miscalculating the delivery date of a 34-year-old woman nearly two years ago, leading to labour being induced prematurely. The woman, whose husband is a professor at Delhi University, developed complications that were not managed properly, and the baby was born limp and blue due to lack of oxygen.

The baby, Aayansh, is 18 months old now, but he cannot sit up, talk, or communicate in any other way. According to doctors, this is because of the brain damage from the lack of oxygen during his birth. (Shutterstock Image)

The DMC, a statutory body that governs the practise of modern medicine in the state, has struck the name of the erring doctor—Dr Shakuntala Kumar—off the state medical register for 90 days. The doctor will not be able to practice medicine during this time.

The baby, Aayansh, is 18 months old now, but he cannot sit up, talk, or communicate in any other way. According to doctors, this is because of the brain damage from the lack of oxygen during his birth.

“We still don’t know whether he can see or hear us. He does not even cry, so we have to keep a track of the time and feed him through a tube every two hours. We also have to keep cleaning his respiratory tract with a suction machine every hour,” Dr Alok Kumar, Aayansh’s father and an assistant professor at Sri Ram College of Commerce, DU.

The DMC’s disciplinary committee found that the date of last menstruation and the due date were erroneously recorded and calculated. Ten days after the wrong due date, the woman was admitted at Nulife Hospital in GTB Nagar and oxytocin was administered to induce labour.

The patient had delivered her daughter by C-section and the scar ruptured, leading to complications and asphyxiation of the baby, doctors said. “The miscalculated date by itself might not have led to so many problems. After an investigation by the DMC, it was found that there were no medical records of the time when she was in labour, leading us to believe that there was a delay in performing the C-section leading to the baby’s asphyxiation,” Dr Girish Tyagi, secretary, DMC, said.

“The judgement is based on misconceived facts. The ultrasound report shows that the woman was 37 weeks pregnant, which is considered full-term. Also, we have an ultrasound report for the period that they say the records are missing for. We will challenge this order,” Dr Harish Kumar, medical superintendent of Nulife Hospital, said.

Despite repeated attempts, Dr Shakuntala Kumar could not be reached for comment.