London:
A doctor of Indian-origin is likely to be banned from practicing in the UK following a series of diagnostic errors that resulted in the death of a 26-year-old Briton.
The General Medical Council, the apex organization that monitors and licenses doctors to practice in the UK, has launched a 'fitness to practice' hearing against the doctor, Navin Shankar, who qualified from the Patna Medical College in 1971.
The most recent charge against Shankar, 59, is that he failed to spot symptoms of cervical cancer in Nikki Sams even after she visited him on eight occasions over four years. She repeatedly complained of stomach pains and bleeding but Shankar did not carry out an internal examination, and instead told her that it was 'nothing serious'. It was only when she was referred to another doctor that she was immediately given a smear test.
Shankar was earlier reportedly suspended for serious misconduct in a case involving a baby.
Sams had a hysterectomy after she was referred to another doctor and began radiotherapy and chemotherapy but died around a year later aged 26.
The General Medical Council last week upheld a number of complaints against Shankar following the start of a fitness to practise hearing. It has been adjourned while his performance is assessed.
Sams' father Michael, 54, who quit his job as an airport worker to care for his daughter, accused Shankar of a 'catalogue of unforgivable errors'. He told the
Daily Mail, "Nikki was so brave, she never complained, but she died unnecessarily. It is unbelievable that in this day and age a girl can go to her doctor so many times with all these symptoms and be told not to worry." He added: "I have a younger daughter and Nikki was her role model. This has torn our family apart."
Sams, who was a saleswoman from Luton, Bedfordshire, first saw Shankar in 1999 and was seen by another doctor in 2005 when Shankar was suspended by the GMC for serious professional misconduct after he blamed a nine-day-old boy's life-threatening blood clot on a tight nappy.
The GMC hearing on Shankar will be reconvened at a date yet to be set. If his fitness to practise is deemed to be 'impaired' he could receive a warning, have conditions placed on his registration, be suspended or struck off.