AIIMS doctor shunted out for taking money for surgery, Centre seeks report from hospital

New Delhi: A doctor from the obstetrics and gynaecology department of AIIMS here allegedly took money from a patient's father for performing surgery, prompting the Union health ministry to seek a report from the hospital.

A preliminary enquiry by a fact-finding committee found merit in the complaint against the doctor, following which the hospital administration shifted him out of his department and directed him to report to the National Cancer Institute in Jhajjar.

The complaint was filed in June this year.

According to the committee's report, a security guard of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Lal Singh Choubey, lodged a complaint alleging that he had approached the concerned doctor for the treatment of his daughter in October 2021, and was subsequently told that she required surgical intervention.

Her surgery was done on October 30 last year.

Choubey alleged that prior to the surgery, the doctor told him that it would incur an expenditure of around Rs 40,000 as it involved procurement of supplies from a vendor.

On the morning of his daughter's admission for surgery, the complainant was introduced to a "supplier". Choubey alleged that he paid Rs 36,000 in cash to the "supplier" but was denied a receipt when he asked for it. He was told that he would have to pay Goods and Services Tax (GST) if he wanted a receipt, so he did not pursue the matter, the report stated.

The complainant said he used the money he had saved for the wedding of his elder daughter to pay the "supplier".

Asked by the committee why he filed the complaint after a long time, Choubey said he was totally focused on the treatment of his daughter.

During one of her follow-up visits to the outpatient department (OPD), the complainant said his daughter was telling a friend who had accompanied her that her family spent Rs 36,000 for the surgery. The conversation was overheard by one of the OPD employees who advised her to file a complaint.

Thereafter, Choubey filed a complaint in June. He also said that he had no complaint with regard to the treatment of his daughter and that he was grateful to the doctor for treating her.

"Having conducted a preliminary enquiry into the matter, the committee is of the opinion that the complaint made by Mr. Lal Singh Choubey has merit and the allegations of having paid money for surgery... cannot be denied.

"The testimonies of two different patient attendants, the complainant and one other patient, each independent of the other, are very clear and similar and lend credence to the complaint. The complaint made by Lal Singh Choubey carries weight and is not motivated," the committee stated.

The committee spoke to two other patients treated by the concerned doctor and one of them admitted to have paid Rs 34,000 to a vendor for supplies. The patient was introduced to the vendor by the doctor in his office chamber, according to the report.

The Union health ministry has sought a report in the matter from the AIIMS administration, an official said.