UK Suspends Indian-Origin Doctor Chirag Patel. He Slept With Patient, Gave Her Opioids

London:

An Indian-origin neurosurgeon has been suspended from practising medicine in the United Kingdom for eight months after having a sexual relationship with a patient and prescribing her highly addictive painkillers without noting the prescriptions in her medical records. 

The accused doctor, Chirag Patel, a consultant neurosurgeon at Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales, claimed to have prescribed opioid painkillers to a woman named only as ‘Patient A’ because she “blackmailed” him with threats of exposing their relationship, according to a BBC report. 

Patel reportedly operated on the woman thrice between February 2019 and December 2021 to remove the damaged part of a disc in her spine. He began a sexual relationship with her shortly after her second operation.

The sexual relationship reportedly lasted six months. At one point, he even sent her nude images of himself to the woman.

The United Kingdom’s misconduct tribunal found that the two continued to have a close relationship until January 2023, and during this time, Patel kept prescribing the controlled medication.

Patel, according to the BBC report, told the misconduct tribunal that he did so because Patient A made threats to expose their relationship. The report said that the doctor told the tribunal he “bitterly regrets” his actions.

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According to the report, Patel had been a permanent consultant at the hospital since 2018. He was also the only qualified clinician in Wales who could treat Patient A’s specific condition. The first surgery happened in February 2019. Patel again operated on the patient in August 2019 and then a final time in December 2021.

Patel told the tribunal that he gave his phone number to the woman after her second surgery because she might need to contact him for medical reasons. They soon began a personal relationship that turned sexual over time. 

According to the report, Patel’s counsel, Fiona Robertson, said that between mid-August 2019 and late January 2020, Patient A was no longer under the accused doctor’s clinical care. The doctor claimed he believed his formal involvement in her treatment had come to an end.

In January 2020, while the pair was still in a relationship, the patient told Patel about renewed symptoms, and he arranged an appointment with her via his secretary rather than following the proper procedure. 

But despite missed appointments, the tribunal found that Patel prescribed morphine sulphate tablets and diazepam to the patient on a non-emergency basis. These prescriptions, made between May 2022 and January 2023, were not added to her official hospital records.

After the relationship had deteriorated by February 2023, Patient A approached the police to complain against the doctor. Cops did not register a formal case against the doctor but notified the medical director of the health board.

Patel, that same month, referred himself to the General Medical Council (GMC) – the independent regulator of doctors, the BBC report said. 

In a statement, Patel claimed the relationship was instigated by Patient A and “largely driven by her through the ongoing threats and blackmail”.

“I was afraid if she did so I could lose the job I so loved and had worked so hard to obtain,” he claimed.

GMC counsel Harriet Tighe noted that the misconduct in this case was “persistent, repeated, and was an abuse of professional position which demonstrated a reckless disregard for patient safety and professional standards.”

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, which oversees the hospital, said Patel was no longer working for the board.