Doctors spat due to rivalry, didn’t cause newborn’s death: Probe report

The ugly spat between two senior doctors inside the operation theatre of a government hospital in Jodhpur was due to a personal rivalry and did not cause the death of a newborn, a government panel constituted to probe the incident has told the Rajasthan high court.

The two doctors were immediately removed from their duty after the incident was reported.(ANI Photo)

The panel submitted its nine-page report in the Rajasthan high court on Tuesday.

“There was a rivalry between the two doctors, which led to the bickering on the operation table,” said Rajasthan’s additional advocate general SK Garg.

The probe panel did not recommend any action against the resident doctor, who shot the video of the argument between gynaecologist Dr Ashok Nanival and anaesthetist Dr Mathura Lal Tak, but the court warned her against using a mobile phone inside operation theatres.

The spat triggered an allegation that a woman, who was inside the operation theatre for a surgery, lost her newborn because of the verbal duel.

The court took cognizance of the video on August 30 purportedly shot inside the operation theatre of Umaid Hospital on August 29 that showed the two doctors arguing and using filthy language, and sought a report.

The government panel comprised additional district collector Manaram Patel, additional principal of Dr SN Medical College Dr Reeta Meena, Umaid Hospital superintendent Dr Ranjana Desai, and Jodhpur metropolitan’s chief judicial magistrate Amar Verma.

After the court took the report on record, amicus curie MS Singhvi requested the court to take ground realities of all the three government hospitals in Jodhpur – Umaid Hospital, Mahatma Gandhi Hospital and Mathura Das Mathur Hospital – into account before taking any action on the report.

A division bench of justice Gopal Krishna Vyas and justice Manoj Kumar Garg formed two committees, one for Umaid Hospital and the other for MG Hospital and MDM Hospital, to look into the issue and submit a comprehensive report on the infrastructural and medical facilities at these hospitals.

Both the committees will be headed by additional district collector Seema Kaviya and comprise retired professors of the medical colleges.

The court has sought these two reports by September 8.