Son undergoing op, man responds to call for namesake patient, gets operated on

KOTA: A 60-year-old partially paralysed man was mistakenly operated on at New Medical College Hospital in Kota after he responded to a call for another patient who shared his name, officials said Thursday.

Jagdish Panchal was waiting outside the operation theatre while his son Manish was undergoing surgery last Saturday. When staff called out "Jagdish" for the next patient, Panchal entered and the medical team - unaware of the mix-up - administered anaesthesia and began a procedure meant for another patient. The error was discovered only after a surgical incision was made on his arm.

The confusion came to light when AAP's Kota district president Kunjbihari Singhal met the family and filed a formal complaint Wednesday. Medical college principal Dr Sangeeta Saxena ordered an inquiry and directed the hospital superintendent to form a three-member committee to submit a report within 72 hours.

"My father was sitting outside and somehow got taken in. He can't speak properly and is partially paralysed. When I came out of surgery, I found out they had operated on him too," Manish said.

Dr Nirmal Gupta, who heads the plastic surgery department, said he performed a skin grafting procedure on Manish after he was referred from the orthopaedics. "He is still under my supervision in the ward," he said.

Congress MLA Shanti Dhariwal called for compensation and full medical support for the father-son duo, urging Rajasthan govt to intervene.