Woman, Newborn Child Dead After Drunk Doctor Performs C-Section Surgery

A doctor in India was arrested after he delivered a baby in a hospital under intoxication on Monday. The newborn girl and mother died a few hours after the surgery.

Dr. Paresh Lakhani, 50, in-charge resident medical officer of Sonavala Hospital in Gujarat, India, performed an emergency C-section on Kaminiben Chanchiya, 22, a farm laborer, after she was brought to the medical facility from her home in the village of Gadhada Taluka, Alampur, Gujarat.

Chanchiya started having labor pain shortly after she was brought to the hospital, causing Lakhani to order a caesarian, despite the fact that he was in an inebriated condition. After the newborn was declared dead, the mother of the child continued to bleed profusely.

Her family members then decided to transport her to a private gynecologist’s clinic in Botad, Gujarat. Before she could reach the clinic, Chanchiya died. When the 22-year-old’s relatives went back to Sonavala Hospital to talk to Lakhani, they suspected him to be drunk and that he had performed the operation in that state.

Chanchiya’s family wasted no time in informing the police. After the doctor took a breathalyzer test as part of the preliminary investigation, it was proven that Lakhani was indeed intoxicated and he was arrested.

"The police found that the doctor was drunk while on duty. He was first booked under the Prohibition Act and was arrested. His blood sample was sent for testing," Botad Superintendent of Police Harshad Mehta said, local news channel News 18 reported.

The Prohibition Act is enforced in Indian states such as Bihar, Gujarat, and Nagaland which according to the country’s constitution bans "consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health.”

Although the suspect has been accused of negligence which led to the death of Chanchiya and her child, the police said they would refrain from drawing any conclusions till a thorough investigation into the matter is done.

“The family members of the deceased woman have alleged that she died due to the medical negligence. We have asked a committee of Bhavnagar’s Sir T Hospital to investigate the exact cause of her death. If the committee finds negligence, we will register a separate offence against the doctor,” Mehta told local daily Times Of India.

Authorities are also awaiting a post-mortem report from Bhavnagar Civil Hospital. A committee headed by a civil surgeon will then determine if the cause of death was due to negligence on the doctor’s part.

“As per Supreme Court guidelines, only a committee headed by a civil surgeon can determine negligence charges. If the report is positive, we will book him under provisions of IPC [Indian Penal Code] related to negligence,” Mehta added.