Sessions court upholds oncologist's conviction

The sessions court on Thursday confirmed the one-day sentence and Rs50,000 fine imposed by a magistrate court on Padma Vibhushan awardee and senior oncologist Dr Prafulla Desai (80), who was found guilty of medical negligence on July 6 last year.

Sessions Judge N Nhavkar dismissed the appeal filed by Dr Desai. Additional public prosecutor Hargun Raisinghania, who argued for the state, confirmed the development.

Desai had appealed in the sessions court after he was found guilty of the charges levelled against him 24 years ago by Dr PC Singhi, a former IAS officer. In his 1989 complaint, Singhi accused the oncologist of not treating his wife Leela, a cancer patient.

Leela died on February 26, 1989, after a 14-month suffering.

As per Singhi’s plaint, on December 22, 1987, Leela was admitted to Bombay Hospital with stomach pain. Singhi accused Desai of trying to operate on Leela, despite knowing that Dr Earnest Greenberg, the New York-based cancer specialist who was seeing her, had advised against it. Dr Desai will now appeal against the sessions court order in the HC.