Chikkamagalur/Hassan: A gynaecologist working in a government hospital, who conducted as many as 1,428 hysterectomies over three years has gone scathe-free, even after a probe committee called the act a ‘cognisable offence’. The only action that the Health Department has initiated against the doctor was a transfer!
What was even more shocking was the fact that more than 40 per cent of the women who underwent these surgeries were below the age group of 35 years.
After media reports about ‘unnecessary hysterectomies’ in Biruru Community Health Centre in Chikkamagaluru district came to light, the Department of Health had constituted an inquiry committee under the leadership of T.R. Sudha, head of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology in Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences, to probe into the allegations against Dr. Dayanand of Biruru Community Health Centre in December 2014. The other members were Shamala Bhandari, an advocate and member of State Women’s Commission, and Vani Kori, noted gynaecologist from Shivamogga.
The report itself has come to light nearly a year after it was submitted to the Director of Health and Family Welfare in February 2015.
The committee had recommended a CID inquiry into the incidents of “unnecessary hysterectomies” conducted by the doctor as women from 8 districts had undergone surgery in the said hospital.
The report had clearly stated that the doctor and a few others committed “cognisable offences” by conducting 1,428 hysterectomies in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The committee pointed out that the doctor conducted surgeries in many cases where it was not necessary. The expert doctors in the committee gave their detail opinions about such cases in the report. The committee members also noted that the women who underwent the surgery were asked to pay anywhere between Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 30,000.
Representatives of agencies implementing the government-sponsored health insurance schemes were hand-in-glove with the doctor, the report stated.
Surprisingly, as a punishment, the said doctor has been transferred to Chigateri Hospital in Davangere, reports The Hindu.
