A father fights on for justice

It has been three years since Rakesh Sharma began fighting a lone battle for justice. Sharma rued the fact that despite the MCI admitting negligence in their inquiry and the police lodging an FIR, no action has been taken against the erring doctors, reports Jaya Shroff Bhalla.

It has been three years since Rakesh Sharma began fighting a lone battle for justice.

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“First the police took almost 15 days to register my FIR and now more than five months have passed and there is no development. I don’t know what to do,” said the disappointed father whose son died due to medical negligence in 2005.

Sharma rued the fact that despite the Medical Council of India (MCI) admitting negligence in their inquiry and the police lodging an FIR, no action has been taken against the erring doctors.

A senior police officer said there is confusion regarding constituting a new medical board to look into the matter. “I do not know why the police are insisting on setting up a medical board when the MCI and other medical bodies have certified it was a case of negligence,” Sharma said.

His son Anirudh (16) was diagnosed with meningitis at Ganesh Diagnostic and Imaging Centre whereas he was suffering from brain haemorrhage.

He was taken to Saroj Hospital and Heart Institute in Rohini, where he was admitted on August 25, 2005, but the doctors failed to cure him. Anirudh was at the hospital for five days.

Six doctors from both Ganesh Diagnostic and Saroj Hospital were found guilty of negligence. As punishment, the MCI had asked one doctor to stay away from work for a week. The rest were spared.

Dr VK Mishra and Head neurology at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPIGMS) in Lucknow and Dr S Prabhakar, Head of neurology at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, had also certified that Anirudh’s was a case of negligent death.

The court asked the police to initiate action but the case stands where it was months ago.

“I have come to terms with the fact that my son is gone forever, never to return and I have realised that this is not just a fight for him or for my family,” said Sharma. “Now it’s now more than a personal battle for me. I want all people who have suffered in the hands of negligent doctors to stand for their rights.”