Telangana State Medical Council (TSMC) has summoned the global hospital doctors involved in the height lengthening surgery performed on 23 year old Hyderabad techie, Nikhil Reddy.
Through notice, the officials asked the doctors who performed the surgery to appear before its ethics committee on April 20 to explain their stand on what they called an "unusual experimental surgery on a young person".
When 5 feet 7 inches, the current height of Nikhil’s itself is a standard height, why did the team led by G Chandra Bhushan, the chief orthopaedic surgeon, agreed to add three inches, the notice questioned. As per the sources, TSMC was forced to take up the case after several members of the medical fraternity raised these ethical issues.
"Those who performed the surgery on Nikhil Reddy have been asked to appear before the ethics committee of TSMC to explain why he was selected for the limb-lengthening technique (Ilizarov technique) in the first place as there seems to be no such emergency in the case. (The) 5'7'' (figure) is not short stature," said Dr E Ravindra Reddy, chairman, TSMC.He said that the ethics committee of TSMC would take a final call based on the surgeons' response.
Police said that, Nikhil Reddy is a software engineer, working for a firm in Banjara Hills. Based on his mobile phone call data, the parents lodged the missing complaint. For Rs. 7 lakh worth surgery, reportedly, Nikhil already paid Rs. 3 lakh and his friend has given the consent for the procedure.
Meanwhile, the case went more viral after the Orthopedic Association of South Indian States (OASIS) has taken cognizance of the case and has constituted a technical committee for an internal probe into the case on three points.
First, whether the patient actually needed to undergo the surgery using Ilizarov technique for cosmetic reasons. Second, what is the technical competence of the surgeon involved and finally, whether the surgery was done as per the rule book.
"The OASIS committee will interact with the patient and the surgeons involved in the case and decide whether there is any need for standard protocol to be put in place to guide orthopedic surgeons when they go for Ilizarov technique for cosmetic reasons," said Dr P Vijayachandra Reddy, secretary general, OASIS.
Ilizarov technique is a medically proven limb-lengthening technique. Speaking about the issue, Dr Reddy said that, this technique is mostly performed in cases like, difference in size of two legs or on a polio-afflicted patient facing mobility issues or someone who has multiple fractures, through an accident.
Reddy added that, in cosmetic reasons cases, Ilizarov technique is rarely used.
“Our members do get requests for limb-lengthening procedures but we generally discourage them as not all need to undergo such procedure. However, there is a thin line between what is ethical and what is unethical,” Reddy said.
Dr K Ramesh Reddy, Medical Council of India member, opined, Nikhil Reddy’s case is a classic example of throwing ethics to wind.
"Legally, the procedure may be right to perform on a major but ethically it was not correct for the surgeon involved to do it on him. We generally perform a procedure to treat fractures and here is a case where bones were broken for a cosmetic procedure on a young person," he said.
By Phani Ch
