Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan has admitted to being a very close friend of Dr Dinesh Ariyanayagam, the surgeon at the centre of a controversial procedure in which 17 cocaine pellets were allegedly removed from a patient’s stomach last year.
The surgery, which was performed at the St Augustine Private hospital, cost close to $100,000. The patient was later transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Science Complex, Mt Hope, and placed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after falling seriously ill.
In an interview on Sunday, Khan said despite being friends with Ariyanayagam, whom he referred as “Dr Ari,” he has distanced himself from any aspect of the police probe into the matter. He also denied speaking to Ariyanayagam about the matter. Ariyanayagam is a general and vascular surgeon. Khan’s response have come in wake of reports that the investigators had complained of a senior politician blocking certain aspects of the case.
“Everybody knows who the doctor is. Dr Ari and I are very close friends…. who does not know that? We have been close friends since in medical school. So what? There are very few people who hold a specialist position like myself and there are very few people who hold a position like him, so we consult all the time on patient care,” Khan told the T&T Guardian in a telephone interview.
The Health Minister said he was even a guest at Ariyanayagam’s wedding. “So out of 1.3 million people in this country I must not know anybody? In my field it is only obvious I must interact with other doctors and maintain relations with them,” Khan added. Khan, who questioned the relevance of his relationship with Ariyanayagam in relation to the case, said such information being relayed to the media was part of a plot to try to taint his good character.
“There are certain people who are trying to make something out of nothing and the whole thing is just complete rubbish. “I have made it my business to stay clear out of the investigation and unlike other people who have been uttering all sorts of things, I have chosen to utter nothing and let the police do their work,” Khan said.
Pellets given to nurse
One source close to the investigation said yesterday that when the pellets were removed from the patient last December they were placed in a plastic bag by the doctor and then handed over to a senior nurse and another relative who were present at the hospital. The nurse, who is assigned to the Mt Hope Women’s Hospital, is the patient’s mother. But the nurse denied receiving the pellets when questioned by the police on the matter.
“What was removed was described as ‘foreign objects covered in faeces’ because they could not tell exactly what it was. What was explained to the police is once it is a foreign object, other than a body part, the normal procedure is for it to be handed back to the patient,” the source said. The source said when the patient was taken to the hospital he said he had a history of “abnormal blockage” which ran in his family.
After the surgery, the patient reportedly asked no questions of how he fell ill in the first instance or what was removed from his stomach. “Instead, he told the police he had great trouble speaking. After the surgery his mother also asked no questions from the doctor and the police found this strange as the man had nearly died,” the source said. It is also believed this was not the first time the man had swallowed cocaine pellets and police also suspect the nurse to be part of a drug ring.
Probe launched at Mt Hope
Contacted yesterday, Dr Shehenaz Mohammed, chairman of the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA), said the hospital will be conducting its own internal probe and the findings, if necessary, will be passed on to the relevant authorities, including the police. “Initially, the man was not a patient of Mt Hope but rather that of a private hospital where a major surgery was performed. It was only when he fell gravely ill was he transferred to Mt Hope and then placed in ICU,” Mohammed said.
“We will have to do our own investigation and part of that investigation would be looking at the medical notes.
Whatever action is then meted out would be done in accordance with the rules and regulations of the RHA Act and that includes the disciplinary process.” Secretary of the Medical Board Dr Seetharaman Hariharan said the board will meet tomorrow to discuss the matter and determine the best way forward.
He said one of the key areas to be examined will be the conduct of the doctor and whether he was culpable. Hariharan said based on what is determined this will be forwarded to the police. But he said the board will not discuss the allegations surrounding the nurse, as this is a matter for the Nursing Council to decide.
Only one Police Service
When told of the NCRHA’s internal probe and of the meeting of the medical board, Khan said as far was he was aware there was only one Police Service in the country. “People are continuing to get this thing wrong. The police must first do their investigations and coming out of that it would then determine what action would be taken.
“So in the meantime what offence has the nurse committed, because no charges have been laid? How can you probe a nurse when the police have not charged her? “The NCRHA does not have to power to investigate anything of this nature because this is a matter for the police. It is not a medical mishap. Has the NCRHA suddenly become an arm of the Police Service?” Khan questioned.
He said he had no problem with the medical board holding “whatever meeting” it wanted, but warned there was a process to be followed and people had failed to understand this. “Let the police do their work and stop messing up the police investigation,” Khan said.
