The Tamil Nadu Medical Council will decide on August 30 on the action to be taken against a Coimbatore-based doctor for allegedly trying to unhook her 80-year-old father from life support at a hospital here, in September 2015.
On Friday, the CCTV footage from the ICU of the hospital went viral on social media, shocking the medical fraternity and the public.
Tamil Nadu Medical Council president K. Senthil said that R. Jayaprakash, who runs Adithya Hospital, had approached the council four months after his father E. Rajagopal’s death in 2015 with CCTV footage, alleging that his sister, Jayasudha Manoharan and her family had tried to kill his father.
Dr. Jayasudha practices at a hospital owned by her husband, Manoharan, in Coimbatore. The couple have two sons — one of them, a doctor. Last September, she, along with her family, had visited her 80-year-old father, who was being treated in the intensive care unit of Adithya Hospital.
Two days later, Dr. Rajagopal died. Dr. Jayaprakash filed a police complaint two months later at the Kilpauk police station against Dr. Jayasudha and her son Hariprasad. He also filed a complaint with the medical council.
A senior police official said the two accused were chargesheeted under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code in the first week of August this year.
The official further said that chargesheeting of the two persons opens up the case for a trial in a court.
‘No proper response’
Dr. Senthil said that the council had issued a show cause notice but her response was not clear.
“On July 22, we held a meeting but they did not turn up. Instead, they sent a note that was crassly drafted. Usually, we hold an individual inquiry, but this time we have decided to have a disciplinary committee meeting and are planning to have a questionnaire,” he said.
“Dr. Jayasudha’s explanation was crass and abusive of her brother,” Dr. Senthil said.
“We do not know what drug was flowing through the IV canula. The video footage shows the connector tube is being disconnected. The camera was behind her and her face is not clear. After she disconnects it, we can see some bleeding from the tube.”
“The enquiries are still at a very preliminary stage as the video shows Dr. Rajagopal shaking hands with his grandchildren. We have to ascertain all facts. We have to give them the opportunity to respond. The disciplinary committee meeting will be held on August 30,” Dr. Senthil said.
