A cardiologist from a government hospital in Uttar Pradesh, who allegedly implanted sub-standard pacemakers in his patients while charging double the cost of a standard one, was arrested.
Police sources said at least 200 people have been adversely affected by the pacemakers that had been implanted by the doctor. “We have arrested Sameer Saraf, a cardiologist at Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences, Saifai. He faces various allegations, including overcharging patients, financial irregularities and using substandard medical devices, etc.,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Santosh Kumar told PTI.
Sameer Saraf, a cardiologist at Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences, Saifai, was arrested last week but complaints against him had surfaced much earlier. According to NDTV, in 2019, advocate Mohammed Tahir took his wife Reshma Begum to the Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences, Saifai. A temporary pacemaker was implanted in her. Tahir was urged to get a permanent one implanted. However, complications persisted after the surgery. Reshma was taken to a hospital in New Delhi but she could not be saved.
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Etawah resident Mohammad Naseem also alleged that his wife lost her life due to Saraf's negligence. He claimed Saraf took ₹4 lakh for an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and then implanted it in the wrong direction, reported NDTV. The report also stated that the doctor has implanted pacemakers in 600 patients and the initial police investigation showed at least 200 of them were sub-standard.
In December 2021, the medical superintendent of the institute, Adesh Kumar, filed a complaint against Saraf. The police registered a case in February 2022.
According to The Telegraph, an investigation began in February 2022 following which he was suspended. Saraf also allegedly went overseas five times with his family. The trips were allegedly sponsored by the companies that he was buying the substandard equipment from.
Senior Superintendent of Police of Etawah, Sanjay Kumar Verma ordered the arrest. He told ThePrint that Saraf was previously censured by the university for making arbitrary purchases, unnecessary foreign trips, suspected pacemaker fraud and corruption that cost the administration lakhs of rupees.
Police are now probing whether there is a larger nexus involved and are trying to find out which company had supplied the fake pacemakers to Saraf.
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