Mother angry censured surgeon still practises

Press, 29 June 1988, Page 11

Mother angry censured surgeon still practises

PA Auckland A Whakatane woman is angry a surgeon can still practise after her son’s death. An orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Lachman Panjabi, has been censured and fined $lOOO after being found guilty by the Medical Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee of professional misconduct. Wayne Cox, aged 19, died after he was admitted to Whakatane Hospital with broken legs. His mother, Mrs Shirley Cox, is bitter the doctor can continue practising in a base hospital anywhere in the country.

“He’s got his freedom and we have been left to pick up the pieces,” she said. "No amount of punishment could replace my son.”

The Whakatane Hospital Board cleared the doctor of malpractice after the incident and he continued working at the hospital for five months. The family took

to the Medical Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee.

At an inquiry held last month, the council was told how Dr Panjabi failed to diagnose one of the youth’s legs was septic and grossly infected under plaster.

In spite of a call from another doctor saying his patient was dying and needed surgery, Dr Panjabi refused to accept septicaemia had set in and thought the patient had adult respiratory stress syndrome. Dr Panjabi had not seen the youth for 16 hours when he made the decision and his colleague ordered immediate surgery. The patient had a heart attack and suffered brain damage. Two weeks later he had further surgery and died of a heart attack.

The council found Dr Panjabi guilty of serious negligence incompatible with the duties of a competent orthopaedic surgeon. R

He is allowed to continue practising in a base hospital anywhere in the country under the direct supervision of a senior orthopaedic surgeon for three years. It is believed Dr Panjabi had been running a private practice after leaving the hospital about January. General Practitioners in Whakatane had been complaining to the Hospital Board for three years about Dr Panjabi’s treatment of patients, but had been ignored. Hospital staff said they expected Dr Panjabi would appeal against the decision. The board based its decision on an inquiry by a Christchurch specialist, Professor William Gillespie, and police inquiries. Dr Panjabi was reinstated after it was found there was no criminal negligence. The hospital has not changed its methods of investigating complaints since the death.