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1. The dingy room offers a complete contrast to the man sitting in the
centre. Clad in a bright orange shirt he wipes his forehead off the
sweat, and continues to address the small group of reporters
congregated there. Dr. Kunal Saha is very animated as he explains
the intricate details of his case to the group in The Press Club of
Kolkata. The motive of the press conference was to expose the
rampant corruption in the West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC), in
relation to the death of Mrs. Anuradha Saha, Saha’s wife, in 1998
due to an alleged medical ‘negligence’. Dr Saha has been fighting the
Indian medical and judicial system since the last thirteen years to
get justice for his wife. He has virtually

2. 1.been a lone fighter and is continuing his fight against the
system relentlessly.
Now Kunal Saha is back in the news as a High Court
judgment a few weeks back indicted 17 doctor members of
the West Bengal Medical Council for criminal conspiracy
and shielding doctors responsible for the death of Anuradha
Saha. Furthermore, last month a case has been filed against
a retired High Court Judge where the Supreme Court
condemned him for making defamatory statements against
Kunal Saha.
“I am not fighting for myself. It’s for Anu(Anuradha) and as
well as many others like her.” says the gritty man with a
simple smile, making one realize that no matter what
adversities one might face, we should never give up hope.

3. The beginning and the love story
Born in Halisahar, (a city in the North 24
Parganas district of West Bengal), in 1958 to
a large family, Dr Kunal Saha graduated from
NRS Medical College, Kolkata in 1985 and
then went on to America for his further
studies. He did his PhD from the University
of Texas, is now an MD and specializes in
HIV/AIDS research.

4. once wanted to visit her mother to take her blessings, before
starting off the new phase. It was in 1985, that he met
Anuradha, that too by sheer co-incidence and the story
unfolded almost like a Bollywood love story. Saha, after
having missed a train to Delhi, had to board another train
where he met Anuradha. That meeting led to a brief courtship
that blossomed into a marriage in 1987. The next backdrop of
what looked like a perfect boy-meets-girl story shifted to the
US as the couple moved there to complete their medical
education while chasing the great ‘American Dream’. Things
went perfectly well for a decade and Anuradha went on to
become a child psychiatrist while Kunal kept growing in his
medical career before finally getting his fellowship from Ohio
in 1998. It was at this time that the couple decided to start the
new phase in their life by planning a family. Packing off their
stuff to Columbus they decided to visit India once, as
Anuradha

5. once wanted to visit her mother to take her blessings,
before starting off the new phase.
Everything seemed perfect, for the fairy-tale story.
But Saha had no inkling on what was coming and how
his life was about to change forever in the next few
days.
The Tragedy and the fight

6. It was during their short visit to Kolkata that Anuradha
developed a simple skin rash from an allergic reaction to
a drug. For treatment she consulted Dr. Sukumar
Mukherjee who was quite well known as one of the best in
the city. Dr. Mukherjee advised a drug
called ‘Depomedrol’ , in a manner which was truly
baffling. 'Depomedrol' is a long standing drug normally
used for extreme cases of asthma or arthritis , and given
at a maximum dose of 40-120 mg at 1-2 weeks interval.
However, Anuradha was given that about 15 times it's
normal usage.

7. Her condition worsened alarmingly since then and she was
eventually shifted to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. Soon
after, she breathed her last.
Saha with his wife Anuradha in happier times
It would have been normal to go into a shell, and move on go back to
his normal life. But he didn't and decided to fight it out. To take on
the doctors who were responsible for his wife’s death.“I am a doctor
myself, when I was told about this I was in a daze standing outside
the hospital room. I knew she was dead, but refused to believe it.
When I entered the room, I saw the monitor was blank, but, maybe I
was hallucinating, as I saw her sitting there and talking to me..Just
telling me, that don’t give up Kunal...Don’t you ever give up...”, says
Saha a little emotionally. He was distraught after the incident. All
their plans and dreams shattered in a matter of days.

8. However, that wasn’t to be easy. Saha soon realized that there is a
whole nexus that is being maintained. The fact that he filed a
criminal case against Dr. Sukumar Mukherjee and two other
accused Doctors (Dr. Baidyanath Halder and Abani Roychodhury ),
would amount to nothing. As Saha says, the High Court rejected
his appeal and the doctors roamed free continuing with their jobs
normally. “I could see the jigsaw unfolding before my eyes and I
understood that the doctors were being backed by the West
Bengal Medical Council (WBMC) who in turn was supported by the
Medical Council of India (MCI). It was obvious that there was a
whole network at place here, and that if even one of the biggies
went down the whole system would be affected, more names
would spill out; thus the backing and brushing up of things under
the carpet. “ he says.
Clearly Saha now had to fight the entire medical system in the
country. However Saha was not to give up so easily.

9. On 30th December 2001 he went on to form People for
Better Treatment (PBT), in Kolkata, an organization whose
main aim is to eradicate medical negligence and promote
corruption-free healthcare in India. And this is what gave
Dr. Saha’s fight the impetus he was so desperately looking
for. Under the PBT’s wings with efficient people under him,
Dr. Saha restarted his fight against the doctors and filed his
case again in the apex court. Thus commenced a long
ranging fight, and in a historic judgment on 7th August
2009 the Supreme Court found four doctors and Advanced
Medicare Research Institute(AMRI) guilty on accounts of
negligence in medical treatment which eventually led to
Anuradha Saha’s death.

10. It was a significant step in Saha’s fight. However, strangely
the medical practicing right of the doctors was not snatched
and neither were they jailed or sentenced. This soured the
small success somewhat, and as he dug deeper more names
kept tumbling out and the fight continues to date.The cause, the solution and the
hope“I am part of the problem too. I was selfish. Until it
happened to me it didn’t bother me” , says the man with
grim honesty. But nevertheless he feels that more than the
solidarity shown to him by some of the doctors, he would
rather prefer them to give them their support in person, as it
would make his case look much stronger. But no one wants
to take the risk. So how do we change all this?? What can
be the solution??

11. The main problem, says Dr. Saha is the whole
administration which needs an overhaul and more
importantly the mentality of the doctors and the medical
system.
Says Kolkata based physician D.P. Mullick, “Dr. Saha is not
just fighting for his wife, this is a fight for every citizen who
does not want to have a similar fate. It is the responsibility
of the medical authorities and the state to take care of the
patients. Unfortunately in today’s age that does not
happen. Hopefully Saha’s fight would change that and
make our medical system more accountable.”

12. Being an American citizen as well, Dr. Saha understands the
basic difference between the two systems. “In America there
is accountability, and humanity when treating their patients.”
Furthermore he says that before the Medical system the
Indian Judiciary too needs reformation to support the people
in getting justice done effectively.
However he is getting some support from different quarters
as senior Kolkata lawyer Mr. Alok Mitra says, “Dr .Kunal
Saha’s case is a good case.I believe under the circumstances
and considering the facts of the situation, we can expect some
positive outcome of the judgment. “
But he still has hope that things will change, and he along with
PBT will try and make this country clean of any such cases like
he has had to face.

13. The Fight continues…
Cases like Dr. Saha are rare, someone who has fought
for 13 years relentlessly. Staying in America, doing his
research in HIV/AIDS, and yet coming here regularly for
his case, and managing the affairs of the PBT too. “For
me Anuradha can never be dead. I have a big house
there in America, and she stays with me. Our meeting
was a pre-scripted story, it was destiny. As if someone
wanted me to do this. If I win this case it would perhaps
set an example for others to be careful about. I hope I
can just make this country a better place, so that
children won’t have to die unnecessarily due to some
ignorant people. Anuradha always wanted that. “ says
Saha .

14. While we wait for the Supreme Court Judgment and hope that
it goes in the right direction, one thing is for certain, that
Kunal Saha will not give up. He is already turned into an
inspirational figure for many suffering from fate similar to his.
Dr. Saha can be described both as the man who fought the
system and the husband who loves his wife and is trying to
bring her justice. One can learn from people like him, that no
matter what we should never give up hope. No matter what
we should forever keep fighting………………………..

15. The first one is the case of Dr Kunal Saha v. Dr. Sukumar
Mukherjee and Ors. Anuradha Saha, wife of the complainant
was diagnosed with TEN, a serious skin disease. She was
admitted in the AMRI hospital, Kolkata. Later since there was
no improvement in her condition, rather it was getting bad; she
was shifted to Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai, where she
breathed her last. Dr. Kunal Saha filed a complaint at the
National Consumer Commission, seeking compensation,
against the Doctors of AMRI hospital and also the directors of
the hospital for being grossly negligent while treating his wife.
The compensation sought by the complainant was an amount
of Rs.77 crore. The National Commission dismissed the
complaint on the ground that whatever happened was beyond
the capacity of the doctors.

16. The Supreme Court overruled the decision of the Consumer
commission. It held the AMRI and the accused doctors liable
for medical negligence. The case was then sent back to the
National Consumer Commission to decide the compensation
amount. The National Commission, awarding a record amount
as compensation fined the Hospital and the accused doctors
with an amount of Rs. 1, 73,000,000.
In another case, Prasanth S. Dhananka, an engineering
student from Andhra Pradesh approached the Nizam Institute
of Medical Sciences (NIMS) complaining of recurring fever.
After conducting a lot of tests, it was revealed that he has a
small tumor in his ribs. An operation was conducted to remove
the tumor, after which Prashanth became completely
paralyzed

17. A complaint was filed before the National Consumer Commission
alleging the Doctors of NIMS to be negligent, seeking a
compensation of Rs. 7.5 crore. The National
Commission finding the doctors guilty of committing
medical negligence, awarded Prashanth a compensation
of Rs. 1,05,00,000. The Supreme Court affirmed this
decision.
The two cases mentioned above saw the first and second
highest compensation amount ordered by the Consumer
Commission in a medical negligence case. There are
many other cases in which the Consumer Courts awarded
high compensation to the victims of medical negligence.