Indian doctor jailed in UK for manslauhgter
14 Feb 2013 6:08 AM IST
An Indian doctor on deputation in Britain has been jailed for two-and-a-half years for manslaughter after wrongly diagnosing a patient who later died.
Bala Kovvali, 64, was found guilty of ‘criminal negligence’ for the ‘wholly preventable death’ of Andre Fellows in June, 2009, at Sheffield Crown Court, on Tuesday. Kovvali ignored the classic signs of diabetes-related poisonous acids building up in 42-year-old Fellows and diagnosed him as ‘depressed with a headache’.
A test would have alerted the doctor to raised blood-sugar levels and it is ‘virtually certain’ Fellows would have survived with an insulin injection and rehydration, the court was told.
‘It was criminal negligence and a wholly preventable death followed,’ said Judge Roger Keen. ‘You have devoted your working life to caring for others.
I have seen glowing references as to your competence, empathy and thoughtfulness.
Bala Kovvali, 64, was found guilty of ‘criminal negligence’ for the ‘wholly preventable death’ of Andre Fellows in June, 2009, at Sheffield Crown Court, on Tuesday. Kovvali ignored the classic signs of diabetes-related poisonous acids building up in 42-year-old Fellows and diagnosed him as ‘depressed with a headache’.
A test would have alerted the doctor to raised blood-sugar levels and it is ‘virtually certain’ Fellows would have survived with an insulin injection and rehydration, the court was told.
‘It was criminal negligence and a wholly preventable death followed,’ said Judge Roger Keen. ‘You have devoted your working life to caring for others.
I have seen glowing references as to your competence, empathy and thoughtfulness.
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