Inside the Dangerous World of Drunk Doctors

Last month in New Delhi, India, two patients at Sonavala Hospital are said to have fell victim to a doctor performing a delivery while drunk.

Kamini Chachi, a 22-year-old woman, was brought into the hospital on November 28 for labor pains. While performing a Caesarean section delivery on the patient, Dr. Paresh Lakhani was believed to be drunk.

Relatives of patient Chachi claimed that Lakhani, who had been working at Sonavala Hospital for 15 years, was intoxicated while performing a C-section on Chachi.

During the C-section, Chachi’s newborn daughter died at birth. Bleeding heavily en route to a private hospital, Chachi too soon died of labor complications.

According to Channel News Asia, Lakhani’s rumored intoxication was confirmed through a breathalyzer test monitored by local police.

If Indian authorities determine that the deaths were due to medical negligence, the deaths of Chachi and her newborn daughter could have been easily prevented.

Following a scheduled postmortem, Lakhani would also be booked and sentenced to jail.

Breaking the Hippocratic Oath

Under the Hippocratic Oath, a serious oath taken historically by physicians, each doctor must swear to uphold the highest ethical standards and “do no harm.”

Drinking before or on the job goes against this medical commandment.

But while the medical community is cognizant of the extreme dangers of drinking on the job, the intense work environment around and outside the hospital leads many doctors to disobey this sacred oath.

The result, as illustrated in the case of Lakhani, is unsupervised and undetected drinking that leads to medical negligence.

What can be done about it?

Like airline pilots, physicians do not need to be tested for drugs and alcohol prior to entering their work site.

But, certainly, instituting mandatory checks, as well as frequent random testing, would help to monitor doctors risking medical malfeasance by drinking before and on the job.

Alternatively, Otorize is a new app scientifically proven to assess and detect impairment in seconds.

Otorize can be downloaded and used as a personal drug and alcohol test that enables doctors to take their own state of cognitive impairment in charge. It is the first proven solution for detecting cognitive impairment. Scientifically proven to reduce impaired driving, it utilizes a simple test you can answer in seconds to detect impairment from any substance, whether it be alcoholic, cannabis, or drugs.

The Otorize app allows you to self-regulate and take command over your actions. It is available on the Google Play Store.