NEW DELHI: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has submitted in the Delhi High Court that one of the two doctors, accused of medical negligence due to which a newborn fell into a vegetative state, does not have recognised qualification to be called a child specialist.
The NMC, which regulates medical education and profession in India, further admitted that even the additional qualification of another doctor making him a neonatologist is not available with it and requested the court to get it from the Delhi Medical Council (DMC).
The case pertains to five-year-old Devarsh Jain, who suffered severe brain bleeding at birth in August 2017 in Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh. It was diagnosed seven months later and due to delay in proper treatment, he got paralysed both mentally and physically.
Devarsh’s parents alleged that the private hospital deliberately concealed his birth injury and deprived him of timely treatment. His mother Sapna Jain got an FIR lodged on October 1, 2019.Fortis denied any wrongdoing and even got a clean chit from DMC. Sapna challenged the DMC’s acquittal which is pending before the high court.
Meanwhile, Sapna also questioned the educational qualifications of the two doctors in a separate petition. She said that the registration status and educational qualifications of Dr Vivek Jain and Dr Akhilesh Singh of the Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh are available on the DMC’s website.
It shows that Dr Vivek Jain, who is a Director and Head of the Department of Neonatology in the hospital, has an MBBS degree from Kasturba Medical College in 2004 along with Membership of the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health (MRCPCH) from the United Kingdom in 2007. Dr Vivek Jain also has a Fellowship Training in Neonatology from National Neonatology Forum (India) in 2016. Sapna raised apprehensions on the validity of Dr Vivek Jain’s qualification to work as a neonatologist.
Another doctor, Dr Singh, completed MBBS from Motilal Nehru Medical College, Allahabad in 1994 and has Diploma of Child Health (DCH) from Indian College of Maternal & Child Health (ICMCH) of National Association for Voluntary Sterilization & Family Welfare of India affiliated to International Association for Maternal & Neonatal Health, Geneva. Sapna questions Dr Singh’s qualification too saying that DCH is an unrecognized qualification.
The high court asked the NMC, DMC, both the doctors, along with other parties, to file their responses.
While submitting its stand before the court in an affidavit on Tuesday, the NMC has admitted that Dr Singh has got registration by the DMC only on the basis of his MBBS qualification.