A doctor who falsified medical records in a bid to prevent a patient suing him has been jailed. Puthyadthu Kartha Venugopal, 61, was jailed for eight months by a judge who described his actions as "dreadful and shameful".As part of his mitigation, Venugopal's lawyer handed the court a letter from his then MP Ed Balls.
Leeds Crown Court heard Venugopal, a GP at Newland Surgery, in Normanton, near Wakefield, had made up false paperwork to protect himself from a civil claim made by one of his patients.
He failed to visit Janet Moore after she had been discharged from Pinderfields Hospital after an intestine operation in December 2001.
As a result of the missed visit, Mrs Moore developed an abscess which led to her developing a significant disability. Mrs Moore took civil
action against West Yorkshire Primary Care Trust and the doctor.
Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, said Venugopal, "no doubt to his horror", checked his professional indemnity insurance to find he was not covered for the claim. He said Venugopal "put his head in the sand" before trying to create a paper trail to show he had made visits to Mrs Moore.
SOURCE
0 comments:
Post a Comment