‘Docs kept dead man in ICU as cover-up’

‘Docs kept dead man in ICU as cover-up’  In a twist to a negligence case at the state-run St George Hospital where a patient died on Saturday, preliminary findings show that junior doctors kept the deceased in the ICU for two hours to cover up for their laxity. An inquiry by a three-member committee is yet to be completed.     The panel is investigating the “mysterious” death of Bhiku Tambe (65), who had been undergoing treatment at St George Hospital since December 4 for breathlessness. On Saturday, he was taken to GT Hospital for a pulmonary CT angiography; a little over an hour of going through the examination, Tambe collapsed at the hospital’s casualty ward. Around 3.50pm, doctors in the ward declared him dead and it was confirmed by an ECG test later.     But St George doctors, who barged into GT Hospital soon after hearing the death news, took Tambe’s body back to their hospital, said doctors from GT. Moreover, junior doctors allegedly used an ambu bag—a resuscitator used for patients who have difficulty in breathing—despite knowing the patient had already died, the doctors added. A senior doctor from St George confirmed that Tambe was taken to St George’s ICU and put on ventilator for two hours. “After two hours, the doctors informed Tambe’s relatives that he had died. They broke the news to the relatives around 6.50pm when he had actually died at 3.50pm,” said the doctor.     St George’s medical superintendent Dr D R Kulkarni said he would comment only after the inquiry was over.     The four who have come under the scanner of the inquiry committee are a chief, senior and junior resident doctors and a lecturer. The inquiry indicated that none of the senior doctors or administrators from either hospital was informed of the sequence of events.     The committee members are now listing the carelessness on the part of the doctors, the first being that none of them accompanied the patient who had a serious lung condition and a weak heart and was at the risk of collapsing during or after a CT scan. No one arranged for an ambulance though it was mandatory under government norms, said a source. Staffers at the imaging centre told the committee that Tambe was made to wait outside for over 30 minutes to check for any reactions. “We sent him away when he said he was feeling fine. The patient himself hailed a taxi to return to St George Hospital but returned half-way when he felt unwell,” an official from the imaging centre told TOI. This was corroborated by GT Hospital doctors. The doctors even handed over Tambe’s body to the family without conducting post-mortem, which is compulsory in a medico-legal case.     Since according to the initial rumours, Tambe had died of an infection caused by the dye used for CT scans, an FDA team on Monday collected samples of the dye. They have also taken samples of an injection given to Tambe.