Ahmedabad: A 35-year-old woman from Shahibaug has moved Gujarat High Court against three doctors and a laboratory, alleging negligence after she gave birth to a child with Down’s syndrome, cardiac anomalies and ambiguous genitalia.The woman had earlier filed a police complaint against Zeel Maternity & Nursing Home, obstetricians and gynaecologists Dr Phagun Shah and Dr Chhaya Shah, paediatrician Dr Maulik Patel, and Unipath Special Laboratory Ltd, alleging professional negligence. She also approached Gujarat Medical Council (GMC), seeking action and debarment of the doctors.Following an inquiry and an expert committee report, GMC issued a warning to the doctors, advising them to exercise greater caution in such cases. Dissatisfied with the decision, the woman filed a complaint before the consumer commission and a petition in the high court, challenging GMC’s order and seeking permanent cancellation of the doctors’ licences.The petitioner has also sought compensation of Rs 25 lakh for the alleged suffering caused to her, her husband and the child. “The petitioner and her husband have undergone significant mental and emotional distress as a result of the negligence and lack of proper medical care provided by the respondents,” the petition states.According to the petition, filed through advocate Vishal Dave, the woman conceived in 2021. The baby was born in May 2022 with Down’s syndrome and two holes in the heart. Doctors initially assessed the newborn as female, but after reviewing the medical condition in detail, they changed the assessment to male a month later.The woman has claimed that she was extremely cautious during her pregnancy and regular with medical check-ups. She alleged that the doctors and medical professionals failed to provide proper advice and diagnosis, leading to the birth of a child with serious medical conditions. She also alleged that incorrect identification of the child’s gender added to the family’s distress.The petitioner submitted that she had undergone numerous tests including antibody to HIV screening, Trisomy 21 screening, USG, and fetal colour doppler study thrice and all these tests were followed by consultation with doctors and yet they failed to flag any anomaly.The petition says the conduct amounted to professional misconduct under Section 22 of GMC Act. It also cites the GMC expert committee’s opinion that timely advice for an invasive confirmatory genetic test could have helped avoid the situation. The petitioner has contended that had she been informed about the foetus’s condition, she would have opted for abortion.She has argued that GMC misinterpreted the expert committee’s findings and wrongly limited its action to a formal warning in Oct 2023. She has urged the high court to quash the GMC order and direct cancellation of the doctors’ licences.The court has sought a reply from the Centre on the provisions for appeal against GMC orders, in view of National Medical Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which introduced such a provision.
