Anatomy of Love (Complete)

Chapter 44

It was a good sized  hall with glass windows bringing enough light inside. The room had a huge desk at one end. Behind it sat 4 senior doctors working for the State Medical Council. In front of them were two chairs, one occupied by Rishab and the other was occupied by his advocate Awasthi. Rishab looked calm in a crisp white shirt, dark blue blazer, black trousers, black shoes, rimless glasses and freshly cut hair.

On the other  side there were two chairs and a desk. On one sat a man in his late 40s. He was tall, average built, dark hair that was starting to turn gray from the sides. He wore a black blazer over a white shirt, thick rimmed glasses and an expensive watch. He was Advocate Anthony Paul representing the council and beside him was a member of the council.
Behind them in the rows sat Raghuvir, Mr.Chopra, Ryan, Khushi, Subhra, Pritha, Raunak, Dr. Srinivas and a few others who were called in as witnesses.

An elderly man sitting behind the desk said, “Good morning everyone! I am Dr.Prahlad Bhonsle, I will be judging the trial. With me are Dr.Soma Senapathy, Dr.AK Ahmed and Dr.Laxmi Hedge. They will help me reach a correct verdict in this trial. Case in discussion today is about Medical Malpractice specifically Medical Negligence and Professional misconduct. The complainants are the families of two patients, Rizwan Ahmed and Anita Dongre. The complaint is against Dr.Rishab Khurana, MS, M.Ch, Trauma Head at KK Memorial Hospital. He is also the CEO of the Western region of KK Hospitals. He will be represented by Mr. Diwakar Awasthi, his advocate. Mr. Anthony Paul will represent the council today. He will be assisted by the member of the Ethics council, Dr.TN Nayar. Let's start the session now.”

Dr TN Nayar stood up and said,“The complaint by the family of the first patient states that Dr.Rishab Khurana neglected the patient when he was brought into the hospital at the late hours of night. He misbehaved with the patient, Rizwan's wife and brothers. Instead of stabilizing him first, he took the patient directly into the OR without taking the consent of the family where he passed away. As per the complaint by second patient Anita Dongre’s family, their daughter was in severe abdominal pain. After some tests, she was diagnosed with perforated colon and peritonitis. Instead of treating her with medication, he took her to the OR where she died. His hasty decisions killed a patient.”

Rishab took a deep breath to calm himself. He reminded himself the words Amol had told him,
“The world will throw stones. That is in their nature. It is up to you to decide whether to become a glass and shatter or become iron and face it strongly.”

He clasped his hands and said, “As a part of the investigation, we visited the hospital and talked to people. We found files related to the deceased patients no longer exist. Apparently they are deleted due to some virus in the system. We have only the testimonies of people who are involved in the cases as well as of those who know Dr.Rishab. We have submitted the report to the council.”

Nayar sat down and Anthony stood up.
“As a witness. I would like to call on Dr.Srinivas, Chief of Surgery, KK Memorial Hospital.”
Srinivas got up and took the chair that was placed beside the jury desk. Anthony asked him what kind of Rishab was. Srinivas answered him that he was a very skilled surgeon and a very good doctor.

“Dr.Srinivas, if Dr.Rishab is such a great surgeon, why has he been suspended 7 times in his tenure here at KK Hospitals?”
Srinivas was quiet. Anthony continued, “Dr.Rishab broke rules, every now and then. He was suspended because of that. Didn't he operate on a patient without telling his family? Didn't he cut open the patient right in the ER? That's straight malpractice. They survived, that's why no complaints were filed.”

Srinivas nodded, “He did these things, broke rules only to save patient’s lives.”
Anthony smirked, “When he roughed off  his own brother, was it for the same reason, saving lives? Or when he declared he was in a relationship with a resident? What was the reason then?”