Consent to kill

Six-year-old girl dies during MRI scan at a posh south Delhi clinic. Parents allege foul play. MiD DAY catches doc on video accepting that parents were made to sign 'consent form' after the victim's death

Six-year-old girl dies during MRI scan at a posh south Delhi clinic. Parents allege foul play. MiD DAY catches doc on video accepting that parents were made to sign 'consent form' after the victim's death

Fight for justice: The victim's father Nima Tamang and his wife at the GMR clinic Pic/Subhash Barolia

Dr Javed from the GMR clinic made me sign some papers after Neha's death. This made me sure that my daughter was killed because of medical negligence and the clinic was trying to hush it up - Nima Tamang

Six-year-old Neha Tamang from Sonada village in West Bengal's Darjeeling district had come to Delhi just four days ago to treat a bent spinal cord. But during a routine MRI scan at the GMR Imaging and Private Clinic in south Delhi's Green Park area, she died under mysterious circumstances. Her father, Nima Tamang, a tea estate worker, suspected that Neha had died due to the negligence of doctors at the MRI centre. What strengthened his doubt was that one doctor from the centre, Dr Javed, had allegedly made his wife and him sign some blank papers after their daughter had been declared dead. May be the reputed GMR clinic would have gone scot-free had not the doctor accepted on a telephonic conversation (that was secretly taped by MiD DAY) that he had made Neha's parents sign two sets of "consent papers" (to obtain their permission for the MRI scan). One set was signed before the procedure and the second, suspiciously, after the girl had died.

"I took Neha to the AIIMS Trauma Centre on Monday and doctors there recommended an MRI scan. I took my daughter to the MRI centre at Green Park but she was scared of the procedure. It was then that a doctor gave her an injection after which Neha's head rolled to a side and her face turned blue. The doctors then rushed her to the nearby Aashlok Hospital where she was declared brought dead," said Nima, the traumatic father.

Allegedly, while the girl was already dead at Aashlok Hospital in Safdarjung Enclave, Dr Javed from the GMR clinic forced Nima to sign some blank documents. "Dr Javed pulled me to a corner and made me sign some papers. I was too traumatised to read them but this made me sure that my daughter was killed because of medical negligence and the GMR centre was trying to hush it up" said Nima.

He repeated his allegation in front of the police who had arrived at Aashlok after the hospital's medical superintendent reported Neha's death.

Fight for justice begins here: Parents and relatives of Neha Tamang (top) waiting for her body in New Delhi on Tuesday. Meanwhile, (above) a policeman making enquires about the mysterious death at the Aashlok Hospital. Pics/SUBHASH BAROLIA

The medical superintendent of Aashlok Hospital said that her hospital had not made the parents sign any document.

While Dr Javed had already left the hospital by the time the parents made the allegations, he later confessed on phone that he had made the victim's parents sign the papers after the girl's death. "It (paper) was some consent. I took two signs. There were two consent forms," said Dr Javed, speaking to a senior official from Aashlok.

Javed also accepted in his conversation that he had forgotten to take the signatures of Neha's parents before the scan was conducted. But then retracted, saying that there were two sets of consent forms, one of which was signed at the GMR clinic before the scan.

Meanwhile, Neha's parents alleged that they had not signed any papers at the GMR clinic.

Later, when MiD DAY called up Dr Javed for clarifications, he refuted all allegations made against him. "I did not force them. It was a death certificate form for which I needed their signatures," he said.

He also said that Neha's death had been caused because of the anesthetic effect of a medicine Thio Pentone which had an adverse effect on her body and caused a cardiac arrest.

However, senior doctors and legal experts are not buying Dr Javed's death certificate theory. They said that a death certificate does not require the signature of the victim's relatives and nor could Dr Javed obtain the certificate from Aashlok Hospital, where the patient was brought dead.
Neha's parents and relatives have lodged a complaint at the Sarojini Nagar police station against GMR clinic. "We can only conduct our investigations after getting the post mortem report," said a cop at the police station.