Two doctors suspended for negligence

According to officials, a private doctor from Namakkal was suspended for negligence after improper post-surgical care led to a patient losing vision. The other was a government doctor from Theni, who was suspended for aiding quackery.

“There are various cases of medical negligence reported to Tamil Nadu Medical Council that needed a thorough investigation. These included negligence on the part of doctors, promoting quackery and other complaints. We constituted special committee for probing the involvement of the doctors in various negligence cases. Based on the report from the committee, the Council suspended the licence of two doctors for a year,” said Dr RVS Surendran, vice president, TNMC.

“In a recent case of medical negligence in which Dr Selvakumari, director of Selva Nursing Home Hospital, administered injection on a nine-year-year dengue patient in Thoothukudi, the Council has slapped a fine on the doctor,” added Dr Surendran.

Medical Council officials added that a follow up inspection was also undertaken to ensure that such incidents do not happen in future.

When doctors are found guilty in medical negligence cases, the Council either suspends the licence of the doctors partially or completely, or awards a penalty. This year, the Council fined seven other doctors after finding them guilty of negligence. It has received 10 complaints of negligence so far this year, while there were at 15 complaints in 2018.