(Image source from: X/britmatters)
An Indian-origin brain surgeon has been banned from working in medicine in the UK for eight months. This was because he had a sexual affair with a patient and gave her very addictive pain medication without recording it in her medical files. The doctor, Chirag Patel, who works as a consultant neurosurgeon at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, stated that he gave opioid painkillers to a woman referred to as 'Patient A' because she "blackmailed" him by threatening to reveal their affair, as reported by the BBC. Between February 2019 and December 2021, it was reported that he performed surgery on her three times to fix a damaged disc in her back. He started a sexual relationship with her soon after her second surgery. This relationship is said to have lasted six months, during which he even sent her intimate pictures of himself. The misconduct tribunal in the UK found that they maintained a close bond until January 2023, during which he continued to prescribe the controlled drugs. According to the BBC, Patel told the tribunal that he prescribed the medication because Patient A threatened to expose their affair. He expressed that he "bitterly regrets" what he did.
As mentioned in the report, Patel had been a permanent consultant at the hospital since 2018. He was also the only trained doctor in Wales who could help Patient A with her specific issue. The first surgery occurred in February 2019. He performed another surgery on her in August 2019, and then one more in December 2021. Patel explained to the tribunal that he gave the woman his phone number after her second surgery, thinking she might need to reach him for health-related reasons. They then started a personal relationship which became sexual over time. According to the report, Patel's lawyer, Fiona Robertson, stated that from mid-August 2019 to late January 2020, Patient A was no longer under Patel's medical care. The doctor believed that his formal role in her treatment had ended. In January 2020, while they were still involved, the patient informed Patel about new symptoms, and he set up a meeting for her through his secretary instead of following the proper process.
However, even with missed appointments, the tribunal discovered that Patel issued morphine sulfate tablets and diazepam to the patient for non-urgent situations. These prescriptions, written from May 2022 to January 2023, were not recorded in her official hospital files. After their relationship worsened by February 2023, Patient A went to the police to file a complaint against the doctor. The police did not start an official case against the doctor but informed the medical director of the health board. In that same month, Patel took it upon himself to contact the General Medical Council (GMC), which is the independent organization that oversees doctors, as reported by the BBC. In his statement, Patel asserted that Patient A initiated the relationship and was "mainly driven by her through ongoing threats and blackmail. "
"I was scared that if she did something, I might lose the job I cherished and had worked so hard to get," he said. GMC lawyer Harriet Tighe pointed out that the inappropriate behavior in this situation was "constant, repeated, and represented an abuse of professional authority that showed a careless disregard for patient safety and professional norms. " Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, which manages the hospital, announced that Patel was no longer employed by the board.
