A unique case of medical negligence that went on for 22 years has finally been quashed by the Patna High Court, where the accused, a female gynaecologist, has been found to be innocent. The court found that the gynaecologist was wrongly implicated in allegations of unlawful kidney removal during a 2000 surgery, in which she was only a bystander.

The case began when a railway employee who underwent surgery for chyluria at a private nursing home in Patna filed a complaint against the doctor after he started experiencing pain and difficulties on his right side of the abdomen. The complainant later alleged that his right kidney had been illegally removed without consent by the operating doctor and his team, which included the accused gynaecologist, and Dr Mamta Singh, who is also the wife of the primary surgeon.

Kidney intact

After the operation, as the patient started experiencing abdominal pain, he underwent medical examinations, one of which, a USG examination, gave the report that his right kidney was ‘not seen’. This led him to believe his kidney had been removed. Finally, an examination from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, by experts determined that the right kidney was not removed but found that it was severely atrophic and shrunken.

The case then moved through multiple forums, including the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, both of which citing the PGIMER report dismissed the complaint as they found that the kidney removal claim as false. The decisions of the forums were not challenged thus making them final.

Justice Chandra Shekhar Jha who presided over the case, noted that Dr Singh’s only involvement was her presence in the operating theater as a team member. This, along with the fact that the kidney of the patient had not been removed led the court to state that the allegations did not constitute any cognizable offense but instead amounted to an abuse of process. The court also cited multiple Supreme Court precedents, and brought the case to a close.

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