The Delhi Medical Council is investigating a complaint made against BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra and another doctor in a case of post-operative negligence.
New Delhi: The Delhi Medical Council is investigating a complaint made against BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra and another doctor in a case of post-operative negligence.
The complaint dates to 1 August, 2014, and was filed by a general physician who said that her 81-year-old mother after being operated upon for piles by surgeons Alok Aggarwal and Sambit Patra at NKS Hospital in 2013, received no post-operative care or supervision, which led to heavy bleeding and her death within a week of the surgery.
The complaint had been examined by the DMC’s executive committee and referred to its disciplinary committee a month ago, said the DMC’s president Arun Gupta. He added that a date for hearing the complaint will soon be fixed, according to The Economic Times.
Patra says that he has received no intimation of a hearing from the council. “I don’t want to comment on it right now. I am not involved in the case anyway as I was just the referring doctor,” he said.
The BJP spokesperson is contesting from the temple town of Puri in Odisha for the Lok Sabha elections and is receiving flak for his campaign.
Earlier this week, a picture of Patra in Puri with the idol of Lord Jagannath led to complaints from the Congress with the Election Commission, alleging he was campaigning with a religious symbol. Puri Collector Jyoti Prakash Das has reportedly filed a show cause notice against the BJP candidate for allegedly conducting a rally without permission.
Responding to the charges, Sambit had said, “BJD and Congress are afraid. I am Odiya so I first visited Jagannath. People gave different things, like garlands. In Pipili, one elderly person gave me the idol. I will reply to the notice when I receive it”.
Sambit Patra is up against incumbent BJD MP Pinaki Mishra and Congress candidate Satya Prakash Nayak.
A video from the campaign trail posted by him drew criticism online and was immediately slammed by BJD as evidence of ‘failure’ of the Modi government’s Ujjwala Yojana.
In the video, Patra is seen sharing a meal in a poor household, where a woman appears to be cooking for the family and Patra’s campaign team. Twitter users questioned Patra why the poor woman was cooking on a wood fire, instead of using an Ujjwala cylinder.