Gurgaon: Nearly four-and-a-half years after a Singapore-based Indian woman was declared dead at a Faridabad hospital due to complications from an alleged botched liposuction, the Delhi high court has directed National Medical Commission (NMC) to take a medical negligence complaint, filed by the woman’s mother, to its “logical conclusion” within six months.The complainant in the case, Ranjakam Indra Visvanathan, the mother of the deceased woman V Anitha, has alleged that regulators failed to act despite years of follow-up. Anitha, who underwent liposuction at a Delhi clinic, was shifted to a Faridabad hospital where she was declared dead on arrival on Sept 28, 2021. A key aspect flagged in the plea was that when the complications arose, the patient was shifted not to a nearby hospital, but was instead taken to Faridabad. Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav of the high court passed the order on Jan 15, in the case filed by Visvanathan against NMC and others, seeking registration of her Dec 17, 2024 appeal and an expeditious inquiry. The order was made public on Feb 3.According to the petition, Anitha died following a liposuction performed by Dr Prashant Yadav at Dezire Clinic in SDA run by him. The petitioner said the surgery was carried out contrary to standard medical practice and that suspicious circumstances emerged in the aftermath.The plea said that Anitha was not shifted not to nearby AIIMS, or Safdarjung Hospital but to Vedantaa Hospital in Faridabad, around 27km away.The petitioner also relied on documents generated in Faridabad to raise doubts over the circumstances of death. The plea cited the MLC dated Sept 28, 2021, issued by Vedantaa Hospital, which, it claimed, contained contradictory entries—one section noting the patient was unconscious, and another stating she was “brought dead”. The petition further referred to a no-objection certificate issued by the station house officer of the SGM Nagar police station, Faridabad, on Sept 30, 2021, stating the cause of death was to be ascertained later.The petition stated that the family attempted to register an FIR but was refused due to the requirement of a preliminary inquiry by a medical authority in cases of medical negligence, following which a complaint was filed before the Delhi Medical Council (DMC) on Feb 15, 2022. The petitioner said DMC held an initial hearing on Sept 28 that year, but no subsequent order or communication was issued, and the matter remained “under consideration” despite repeated follow-ups. Visvanathan said she then approached the NMC, citing alleged delay, cover-up of malpractice, and a systematic pattern of negligence. In its order, the high court noted that the state medical council is the first authority empowered to deal with such grievances. However, if it fails to decide the complaint, the matter can be transferred to the NMC and the decision must be taken within a period of six months.
