An Indian-origin anaesthetist took his life after being accused of sexually assaulting a teenage patient whom he gave a sedative that has a side effect of sexual hallucination, an inquest has heard in the UK on last Thursday. A post mortem gave the medical cause of the death of the 50-year old doctor as drowning.
But the inquest later heard, there were no witnesses to the alleged incident, and the patient's description of the accused differed quite a bit from Dr Sridharan Suresh's actual appearance, the Daily Mail reported.
His software architect wife, Visalakshmi, reportedly told Teeside Coroners' Court that her husband felt his character had been 'defamed' by the sex claims, which he 'totally' denied.
Dr Suresh who was suspended by his employer, was under the impression that police investigation on him was to be discontinued soon and he was going to be allowed back into work. But when he received an email from the General Medical Council on May 2 saying that it was continuing its investigation and that he should attend a hearing in 3 weeks when his registration may be suspended, he committed suicide on the same day.
The inquest heard that Dr Suresh had reportedly sent an email to his wife before killing himself, saying that he 'has done nothing wrong' but he did not want to 'go on like this forever'.
His wife said Dr Suresh had been totally 'destroyed' and by the claims as she told the court, 'In our eyes, my husband was being defamed,' the newspaper reported. She added that he wanted to clear his name, resign and move to a different city in the UK.
In an impact statement, the wife further said her husband had felt isolated, there has been a lack of support, and that even a reassuring phone call 'would have made a huge difference'. When asked by the coroner if Dr Suresh has ever been suicidal or vulnerable before that, Visalakshmi replied with a firm 'no'.
Petition launched for Dr Suresh
After the death of Dr Suresh, petition has been launched by his friends and family to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, saying that doctors are accused of misconduct and are being treated as guilty before any investigation by the employer and GMC. In fact a number of doctors are being investigated by the GMC and have committed suicide and the GMC is 'not accountable' for this loss of life. This must be stopped.
The petition that has already gathered 17,500+ signatures and looking for more, went on to say that, “The GMC should be made responsible for the wellbeing of doctors who are under its investigation. They should be held accountable for the loss of life of any doctor they are investigating. The UK Secretary of State for Health should bring about change to the statute to achieve this, so that doctors' lives are protected.
“Dr Suresh was an anaesthetist who gave sedation to a patient for a dental procedure. The sedative given occasionally causes sexual hallucination. The patient accused the anaesthetist of inappropriate touching but there was no witness to this. The patient's description of the accused person was completely different to that of Dr Suresh.
"However, not only did the police commence an investigation, Dr Suresh was also suspended from work by his employer, restricted from being alone with his own son by the social services and reported to the GMC by the police. A month later, the GMC wrote to him advising that they too had opened an investigation and that he should attend a hearing in 3 weeks when his registration may be suspended. At this point Dr Suresh took his own life. The family of this doctor has been left devastated.
“As lots of doctors have lost their lives while under GMC investigation, Dr Suresh's family and friends appeal to the Secretary of State for help in protecting other doctors facing similar situation."
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