Pune: A homeopathy practitioner practicing in the area has now been sent to 14 day magisterial custody, on orders of a Shivajinagar Court in a case of alleged medical negligence that led to the death of a 16-year-old patient.

The case relates to the treatment of a 16-year-old who had gone for treatment to the homeopath doctor with complaints of vomiting and severe ear and throat pain. However, instead of referring the patient to a qualified allopathy doctor, the homeopath admitted the patient to his 15-bedded hospital,administering allopathic medicines on her, including IV fluids “In the morning, the homeopath asked us to get her screened at the pathology lab on Karvenagar Road and said we should get her ears examined at Shashwat Hospital. After the tests, we returned to the hospital at around 2.30 pm,” the patient's father informed TOI.

The problems then escalated when the patient's family fed her . “We fed her rice and daal. Within half-an-hour, she started complaining of stomach ache. The homeopath told his staff, over the phone, to put my daughter on an antibiotic drip,” the father informed the daily. The girl got some relief. “But soon she again started complaining of severe stomach ache. Another dose was given to her. However, she fell silent and stopped moving. The doctor said he had administered a sedative and told us to take her to Mai Mangeshkar hospital. When we got there, she was declared dead on arrival,” he added.

A case was then filed against the practitioner and the hospital alleging medical negligence. As a protocol, the police referred the matter to the Sassoon Hospital for an expert committee report, which clearly stated that professional misconduct and medical negligence caused the girl’s death. Based on the report of the expert committee the police arrested the practitioner and produced him before the court.

The Shivajinagar court on Saturday remanded a homeopath in magisterial custody for 14 days