Doctor ‘turned off life support to free up bed’

A WOMAN’S life support machine was turned off in an Australian hospital because the director of surgery wanted her bed to operate on another patient, an inquiry heard yesterday.

A government-sanctioned inquiry in the state of Queensland is examining the deaths of 87 patients treated by Indian-trained Dr Jayant Patel, who has been dubbed "Dr Death".

Dr Patel was director of surgery at Queensland's regional Bundaberg Hospital in 2003-'04, despite negligence findings against him in two US states that resulted in restrictions on his US medical license.

Dr Patel left Australia in March. His whereabouts are unknown.

Star witness Toni Hoffman the whistleblower nurse who first raised concerns about Dr Patel broke down several times in the stand as she detailed more horror stories.

Ms Hoffman, the head intensive care nurse, said it was common knowledge among staff and the community that Dr Patel was dangerous, but for months she was the only one willing to speak out.

She said the hospital's chief anaesthetist Dr Martin Carter was the first person to dub Dr Patel "Dr Death". She said staff: "Would say, 'If I have an accident on the weekend fly me out to Brisbane, don't let Dr Patel touch me'."

She said her repeated attempts in 2003 and 2004 to bring Dr Patel's incompetence to the hospital executive's attention were ignored or thwarted.

Ms Hoffman said the "pivotal case" for her occurred in July 2004 when Dr Patel blocked the transfer to another hospital of a 55-year-old man who was critically ill with chest injuries after being crushed under a caravan.

She said another nurse had told her she had seen Patel try to drain blood in a "stabbing motion" from the man's heart, using a hard needle some 50 times. The man died that night.

Another case Ms Hoffman cited involved a woman who had suffered a serious head injury. She said Patel ordered her life support ventilator turned off five days before Christmas, 2004, because he wanted to use her bed for surgery.