Sixty-year-old Vinod Kumar was declared dead at TMH Hospital in Kottakadavu in Kerala’s Kozhikode district less than an hour after he was taken there with chest pain and breathlessness in the early hours of September 23. To his family’s horror, they later discovered that the Resident Medical Officer (RMO), Abu Abraham Luke, at this private hospital, who is responsible for patient monitoring and emergency response, is not a qualified doctor and is an MBBS student who hasn’t passed exams for more than a decade. The private hospital told TNM that they were hoodwinked for four years and Abu has now been dismissed from service.

Vinod’s family has filed a complaint of criminal medical negligence against the hospital and the RMO.

Vinod, a resident of Poocherikkunnu, was taken to the nearest private hospital around 4.30 am after he complained of chest pain. The family alleged that instead of administering medicines, the RMO insisted on tests, including an ECG. Half-an-hour later, they were informed that Vinod was no more.

A heart patient, Vinod had earlier been diagnosed with coronary artery disease, a condition where the arteries supplying blood to the heart become narrow or blocked by plaque build-up.

The family initially believed that the death was due to a heart attack until Vinod’s elder son Ashwin, who is a practising doctor, checked the hospital’s death summary. 

Why Ashwin became suspicious

Speaking to TNM, Ashwin said that when he checked the medical records a day after his father’s death he became suspicious. “I was working in Punjab and was not with my family when the incident occurred. However, a day later I reached home and checked the records. In the death summary, the cause of death was written as cardiopulmonary arrest. But that is a condition and can’t be pronounced as cause of death. Then I went through the death summary and noticed that the doctor had not administered any medicine, which is necessary for a cardiac patient,” Ashwin explained.

Ashwin also told TNM that he had spoken with the RMO via phone on the morning when his father was in the hospital. “After reaching the hospital, my mother called me and complained that the doctor and nurses were not communicating anything regarding my father’s condition. Then my brother gave the phone to the RMO and the RMO informed me that my father was no more. He cited the reason that he was brought to the hospital a little late,” Ashwin said.

“The doctor said that my father’s pulse rate was 20 and he had initiated CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), an emergency life-saving procedure that is done when someone’s breathing or heartbeat has stopped. However, CPR is performed when the heart is not beating at all, not for bradycardia, a condition where the heart beats too slowly, usually fewer than 60 beats per minute. Bradycardia is managed with medications such as atropine,” Ashwin added. 

Ashwin’s doubts led him to make inquiries, from which he learnt that ‘doctor’ Abu Abraham Luke did not have a medical degree. “He enrolled for MBBS in 2011 and hasn’t been able to clear his second-year papers till now,” Ashwin alleged.

“It is a significant act of negligence from the hospital’s side to employ someone without any background verification,” Ashwin said.

Vinod’s family has lodged a complaint with the Farook police against the RMO as well as against the hospital. According to the Farook Circle Inspector, a preliminary investigation has been initiated.

“Nothing can bring my father back, but I want to ensure that no one else loses their loved one due to negligence. That’s why we are moving forward with the complaint. Only patients with emergencies visit the hospital at night; otherwise, they would wait until morning. Allowing a person who has passed only Class 12 to manage an emergency department is a criminal offence,” Ashwin said. 

Hospital claims ignorance

When TNM contacted TMH Hospital, the manager Manoj Palakkal acknowledged their mistake and added that Abu had been dismissed. He said that the hospital was unaware that Abu did not have a medical degree. “He gave us his medical registration number and that is our usual procedure for appointing a doctor. If any issues arise with the treatment provided by any doctor, they would be expelled. However, in this case, Abu was considered a good doctor and had his own patients at the hospital, so we had no reason to doubt his qualifications,” he said.

After the allegations arose, Manoj said the hospital asked Abu about his qualifications. “He said he didn’t have a certificate and was doing this for survival.” 

According to Manoj, Abu had been working as a duty doctor at TMH Hospital for the past 4 years and during his job interview had claimed to have worked in other hospitals too. Abu told the hospital management that he just had one exam to clear and that he was “forced” to fake his degree as his family had disowned him following an interfaith marriage.