Man dies of alleged medical negligence in Kozhikode hospital; 'fake doctor' in custody

Kozhikode: A 'fake doctor' in Kozhikode was arrested on Monday on a complaint of medical negligence in the death of a 60-year-old man filed by the family comprising an alumnus of AIIMS Delhi.

Abu Abraham Luke, a native of Thiruvalla, who worked as the Resident Medical Officer (RMO) of TMH Hospital at Kottakkadavu near Kadalundi in Kozhikode, has been taken into custody by the Feroke Police in connection with the death of Kadalundy native Vinod Kumar on September 23.

Dr Ashwin Pachatt Vinod, son of the late Vinod Kumar, is an alumnus of AIIMS. He posted a thread on the social media platform X, also called Twitter, detailing the trauma over the passing of his father and the discovery of the incomplete medical education of the doctor who treated him in his final hours.

TMH Hospital Manager Manoj Balan told Onmanorama they failed to verify Abu's educational qualification. “He provided us with a fake registration number, and we failed to verify its authenticity. Abu is not a regular employee; he only works here two days a week,” Balan said.

“The RMO hasn't even qualified for the second year of his MBBS,” said Ashwin while sharing Vinod’s medical records. “The records fail to mention how many CPR cycles were performed or if any medication was given."

“I got the most distressing call of my life from my mom, saying that my dad was having severe angina and breathlessness & was taken to the nearest hospital's ED. I can’t help but regret our decision to take him to this place that failed him so tragically,” Ashwin wrote.

He said he spoke to the RMO over the phone within half-an-hour of his father's admission as his family was worried. “Dr. A told me my father was brought in late and that there was little he could do. In that moment, I believed him. I accepted our ill fate, thinking there was nothing more that could have been done. Looking back now, I am filled with regret, anger, and the painful realization that we were horribly misled. After an agonizing 18-hour journey from Chandigarh to Kozhikode, I finally saw my father's lifeless body. My greatest fear as a doctor became a painful reality — not being able to be there for my parents and care for them when they needed me the most,” he wrote.

Ashwin claimed that they discovered Abu's incomplete medical education after his father's cremation. “How could someone so unqualified be in charge of my father's life? Or anyone's life? Digging deep, we found that he has been working illegally as an RMO in EDs of various hospitals for years. All the while he was enrolled in KMCT Hospital, as an MBBS student for 13 years without progressing. The sheer negligence & audacity!” Ashwin posted.