Indian-born American doctor Jayant Patel, charged with manslaughter in the deaths of patients in an Australian hospital, has been committed to stand trial before the country’s Supreme Court in Brisbane.
Brian Hine, a Brisbane Magistrates’ Court judge, has ruled there was enough evidence to commit 59-year-old Patel to stand trial on three counts of manslaughter and ten other charges.
A trial date has not yet been set, but if convicted Patel would spend rest of his life in prison.
Charges against Patel, who was extradited from the US in July last year, relate to the deaths of three patients -- Gerry Kemps, James Phillips and Mervyn Morris at the state-run Bundaberg Base Hospital in Queensland’s south-east.
In the course of the hearing, the court was told that 76-year-old Morris died after Patel undertook two operations to stop bleeding in his bowel in June 2003.
Witnesses gave evidence Patel incorrectly diagnosed the bleeding and unnecessarily removed part of the colon.