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Doctor arrested in India sterilization deaths

Indian women who underwent sterilization surgeries receive treatment at the District Hospital in Bilaspur, in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014, after at least a dozen died and many others fell ill following similar surgery. The surgeon who performed the operations at the government-run "health camp" plowed through more than 80 tubectomies in six hours, a clear breach of government protocol, which prohibits surgeons from performing more than 30 sterilizations in a day, said Dr. S.K. Mandal, the chief medical officer in Chhattisgarh Wednesday. The surgeon, Dr. R.K. Gupta, was honored by the state government in January for performing over 50,000 laproscopic tubectomies, Mandal said, adding he believed Gupta was been under pressure to meet government-set targets for sterilizations. Mandal said that his state had a target of 220,000 sterilizations this year and Bilaspur, the district where the botched surgeries took place, had a target of about 15,000 surgeries. (AP Photo)
Indian women who underwent sterilization surgeries receive treatment at the District Hospital in Bilaspur, in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014, after at least a dozen died and many others fell ill following similar surgery. The surgeon who performed the operations at the government-run "health camp" plowed through more than 80 tubectomies in six hours, a clear breach of government protocol, which prohibits surgeons from performing more than 30 sterilizations in a day, said Dr. S.K. Mandal, the chief medical officer in Chhattisgarh Wednesday. The surgeon, Dr. R.K. Gupta, was honored by the state government in January for performing over 50,000 laproscopic tubectomies, Mandal said, adding he believed Gupta was been under pressure to meet government-set targets for sterilizations. Mandal said that his state had a target of 220,000 sterilizations this year and Bilaspur, the district where the botched surgeries took place, had a target of about 15,000 surgeries. (AP Photo) Indian women who underwent sterilization surgeries receive treatment at the District Hospital in Bilaspur, in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014, after at least a dozen died and many others fell ill following similar surgery. The surgeon who performed the operations at the government-run "health camp" plowed through more than 80 tubectomies in six hours, a clear breach of government protocol, which prohibits surgeons from performing more than 30 sterilizations in a day, said Dr. S.K. Mandal, the chief medical officer in Chhattisgarh Wednesday. The surgeon, Dr. R.K. Gupta, was honored by the state government in January for performing over 50,000 laproscopic tubectomies, Mandal said, adding he believed Gupta was been under pressure to meet government-set targets for sterilizations. Mandal said that his state had a target of 220,000 sterilizations this year and Bilaspur, the district where the botched surgeries took place, had a target of about 15,000 surgeries. (AP Photo)

By Associated Press 1 min read

NEW DELHI (AP) – A senior medical official in India says the doctor who conducted sterilization procedures after which 13 women died has been arrested.

Dr. S.K. Mandal, the chief medical officer in central Chhattisgarh state where the surgeries were performed, says the surgeon was arrested late Wednesday after he had gone into hiding.

According to Mandal, the suspect, Dr. R.K. Gupta, had performed over 80 sterilization surgeries in six hours. That’s a breach of government protocol, which prohibits surgeons from performing more than 30 sterilizations in a day.

Saturday’s surgeries were part of a free government-run sterilization campaign aimed at curbing a booming population. The women were sent home that evening but dozens became ill. Thirteen died and 16 others are fighting for their lives.