Dr Rakesh Sehgal, head of parasitology department, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research against whom there are charges of ‘plagiarism’, has been charge sheeted by the institute’s administration on Tuesday.
Since December 2016, four doctors have been charge sheeted by the PGIMER administration after they were found guilty of research misconduct like data manipulation.
The other three doctors were issued a chargesheet in December. The three doctors are head of the pharmacology department Dr Amitava Chakravarti; associate professor, department of endocrinology, Dr Pinaki Dutta; and associate professor in department of urology, Dr Santosh Kumar.
Dr Sehgal was not charge sheeted along with other doctors as he had asked for some time to revert. On Tuesday, he was issued a charge sheet.
In 2012, an article ‘Microarray in parasitic infections’, whose main author is Dr Rakesh Sehgal was published in the journal Tropical Parasitology. However, in 2014, it was retracted as the content was found to be “plagiarised”.
The decision has come over two years after the Institute Ethics Committee highlighted the issue and a year after JP Nadda led Government Body directed the PGI director to take departmental action against four doctors.
{{/usCountry}}The decision has come over two years after the Institute Ethics Committee highlighted the issue and a year after JP Nadda led Government Body directed the PGI director to take departmental action against four doctors.
{{/usCountry}}In September, a review article written by Dr Meenu Singh – contender for PGIMER director- and one more doctor was withdrawn from an international library named Chocrane Library. There were allegations of minor plagiarism and similarities in the data presented. When asked about this issue, the official said, “Nobody has complained to us about the issue.” Dr Rakesh Sehgal could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.