Jayant Mukundray Patel (born April 10, 1950 ) is an Indian-born American surgeon who was accused of gross negligence whilst working at Bundaberg Base Hospital in Queensland, Australia. Deaths of some of Patel's patients led to widespread publicity in 2005. In June 2010, he was convicted of three counts of manslaughter and one case of grievous bodily harm, and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. In August 2012, all convictions were quashed by the full bench of the High Court of Australia and a retrial was ordered due to "highly emotive and prejudicial evidence that was irrelevant to the case" laid before the jury. A retrial for one of the manslaughter counts resulted in acquittal and led to a plea deal where Patel pleaded guilty to fraud and the remaining charges were dropped. On May 15, 2015, he was barred from practising medicine in Australia.
Early life and education
Jayant Patel was born in Jamnagar in the Indian state of Gujarat. Initially, he studied surgery at the M. P. Shah Medical College at the Saurashtra University, obtaining a master's degree. He then moved to the United States where he received further surgical training at the University of Rochester School of Medicine as a surgical intern and a resident in surgery.
Career
Buffalo, New York, US
In 1984 in Buffalo, New York, health officials cited Patel for failing to examine patients before surgery. He was fined US$5,000 and was placed on three years' clinical probation. In April 2001, New York State health officials withdrew Patel's license.
Portland, Oregon, US
In 1989, Patel moved to the Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Portland, Oregon. In 1995, the hospital named him a "Distinguished Physician of the Year." By this time, Patel had been involved in a string of problem cases, eight of which had prompted or would later lead to malpractice or wrongful death lawsuits. Medical staff allege he performed surgery when not rostered to work, operated on other surgeons' patients, operated unnecessarily and caused serious injury and death. In 1998, Kaiser Permanente restricted Patel's practice; he was instructed not to operate on the liver or pancreas and to seek second opinions before performing other surgeries. In September 2000, after reviewing four cases involving the deaths of three patients, the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners made Patel's restriction statewide. Even though his medical license had been restricted, Patel still received glowing letters of recommendation from his colleagues at Kaiser Permanente.
Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia
In 2003, Patel moved to the position of Director of Surgery at the Bundaberg Base Hospital, where he was employed by Queensland Health under an "area of need" program where overseas trained doctors are employed in predominantly regional understaffed areas. He was appointed despite having no specialist surgical qualifications.
Practice in Bundaberg
Inadequacies in Patel's practice were identified. His surgery was described as "antiquated" and "sloppy". Nurses claimed they hid their patients from him when they knew he was in the hospital. He showed poor regard for hygiene. He attracted the nickname "Dr. Death". It is alleged he altered medical records, including death certificates, to hide his inadequacies. Patel is linked to at least 87 deaths among the 1,202 patients he treated between 2003 and early 2005. Thirty patients died while under his care in Bundaberg.
On March 22, 2005, Stuart Copeland, the Queensland Shadow Minister for Health, raised the issue of Patel's clinical practice during question time in Queensland Parliament on behalf of Rob Messenger, the National Party MP for Burnett. Messenger had been alerted to Patel's inadequacies by Toni Hoffman, a nurse at the Bundaberg Base Hospital. Two days later, Messenger delivered a speech in the Legislative Assembly and called for Patel's suspension. After the Brisbane Courier-Mail published reports about Patel by journalist Hedley Thomas, the newspaper and other media outlets were flooded with claims of patients' injury or death caused by Patel's operations.
On April 2, 2005, Patel departed Australia for Portland using a business-class airfare paid for by Queensland Health. His passport had not been withheld.
On November 22, 2006, a magistrate issued a warrant for Patel's arrest and extradition to Australia. He was charged with three charges of manslaughter, five charges of causing grievous bodily harm, four of negligent acts causing harm and eight charges of fraud. He was extradited to Australia on July 21, 2008.