Call it a bizarre incident or a case of sheer negligence, but a 55-year old man, Chandrakant Gangurde pronounced dead by his doctor, stunned all by his sudden revival after being taken off his life support system.
The doctor, Dr Atul Chirmade, cancer surgeon at Atharva Hospital in Sion, was arrested for declaring the demise of his patient without proper check–up and endangering life.
“We arrested Dr Chirmade on Wednesday night and he was produced in court on Thursday afternoon as it was clearly a case of medical negligence. From 10 am to 12 pm after the relatives discovered that Gangurde was still alive, he was not attended to,” said the police inspector.
Chandrakant Gangurde, a resident of Dharavi, was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Atharva Hospital & Research Centre on December 5 after he experienced uneasiness. MRI and CT Scans revealed that Chandrakant had suffered a brain haemorrhage due to a blood clot which led to his left side getting paralyzed.
He was put under the care of a neurosurgeon of the medical institute. Chandrakant was responding well to treatment, but then his condition worsened and his breathing became labored. He was put on ventilator by Dr Chirmade on Tuesday evening. Dr Chirmude informed the family that odds of Chandrakant’s survival were bleak as he was 95 percent dead. The family gave official consent to cut off ventilator support after the hospital declared Chandrakant dead and subsequently, he was shifted from the ICU to another room.
“Around two hours later, Gangurde’s son found him still breathing and brought it to the attention of the hospital authorities. He then came to the police station and filed a complaint, saying his father could have died in the two-hour period without the ventilator support,” disclosed senior inspector Baburao Gavit of Sion police station.
Meanwhile, Chandrakant has been shifted to Kohinoor hospital in Kurla for further medical intervention.
