Patel's patients seek inquiry into compensation

MELBOURNE: Patients of Indian surgeon Jayant Patel, who was arrested in the US on manslaughter charges over the death of his 17 patients, are expected to visit parliament in Queensland today to seek an inquiry into compensation and update from the government on his extradition.

"We want a judicial inquiry ... into this whole affair to fully and fairly investigate the whole compensation process and the way it's been handled," Bundaberg Burnett Patient
Support Group president, Ian Fleming, was quoted as saying by The Australian on this Tuesday. Fleming said the process was flawed and an inquiry was needed.

Patel, dubbed as 'Dr Death' by the media in Australia, has been at the high-security Multnomah County Detention Centre in Portland, Oregon, since his arrest by the FBI on March 11 on a request by the Australian government while a court is reviewing his extradition.

The Queensland Government has paid out almost 300 claims to former patients of Patel, a number remain outstanding and others have been rejected, the report said.
 Patel's extradition hearing is scheduled for May 27 in Portland, Oregon.

Australia is seeking extradition of Patel to face 16 charges, including three of manslaughter in connection with three deaths arising from botched surgeries and falsifying records during his two-year tenure at Bundaberg hospital in southern Queensland.