by doctors, woke up in a morgue minutes before his
autopsy what about to start. The 45-year-old man
was found unconscious at a bus depot in Mumbai,
India, after apparently suffering from an ear
infection and malnutrition. He was taken to hospital
by police and declared dead by a senior doctor after
checking his pulse, according to sources at the
Lokmanya Tilak General Hospital.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Rohan Rohekar allegedly
told staff to take the body straight to the morgue,
contrary to hospital rules which requires corpses to
be held in casualty ward for a two-hour 'cooling off'
period in case there is a chance of revival.
But just as the body was being prepared for the
post-mortem, two porters were stunned to see him
breathing after spotting 'his stomach moving up and
down'.
According to NDTV, the man woke up amid the
commotion as staff rushed back to the casualty
ward to inform doctors.
Dr Rohekar has been accused of tearing up his
death report and erasing an entry he made in the
casualty ward diary after learning of his alleged
blunder.
Police officers, who had arrived at the hospital to file
an accidental death report, say staff refused to let
them in and Dr Rohekar would reveal the
whereabouts of the erased records.
Senior Police Inspector Yeshudas Gorde said: 'It is
a serious case of negligence by the doctor. We
were shocked to find patient was alive after he had
been declared dead. We have written to the dean of
Sion Hospital, asking him to conduct an inquiry and
give us the report. Once the report is out, we can
take action. The hospital authorities should take
action against the person responsible for this
incident.'
Hospitaldean, Dr Suleman Merchant, reportedly
said it was not unusual for doctors to miss a
patient's pulse if the body had suffered shock or
trauma.
He said: 'We have reprimanded the doctor and have
told him that in such cases the body must be kept
in the casualty ward for a cooling off period of two
hours.
'This doctor is new to the hospital and so isn't
familiar with the procedure.'
Dr Rohekar could not be reached for comment.
The patient, who has not been named, is currently
being treated for an ear infection and malnutrition.
Source: UK Daily Mail/NDTV
