An Indian doctor is being accused of causing the death of a 15-year-old boy after operating on him while watching YouTube videos on how to surgically remove gallbladder stones.

Ajit Kumar Puri, a doctor at the Ganpati Hospital in Saran, India’s Bihar state, stands accused of causing the untimely death of a local teenager by operating on him without having the proper knowledge or skills. The boy’s family claim that they brought him to the hospital last week after he had vomited several times. He was admitted and his symptoms subsided, but Dr. Puri decided that he had to operate on the boy to remove a gallstone that was causing the vomiting. After sending the teen’s father away on an errand, the doctor operated on him without the family’s consent of the family, but this resulted in a sudden worsening of the boy’s condition. Eventually, Dr. Puri decided that he should be transferred to another hospital, but the patient died on the way, and the doctor went on the run after leaving his body on the steps of Patna Hospital before going on the run.

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Such tragedies unfortunately happen from time to time, but in this case, the teenager’s relatives say  Dr. Ajit Kumar Puri had good reason to go on the run, considering how he handled the situation. They claim that he lacked the skills to perform the operation that ultimately caused the patient’s demise, as he was seen watching YouTube tutorials on how to remove gallbladder stones while operating.

“We admitted him and the vomiting stopped soon after. But the doctor Ajit Kumar Puri said he needed to be operated upon. He conducted the operation by watching videos on YouTube. My son died later,” the boy’s father told NDTV.

As soon as he regained consciousness after the surgery, the 15-year-old boy started complaining of severe pain, but when Dr. Puri was confronted by his family, he snapped at them asking them if they were doctors. Unfortunately, the patient’s condition worsened, and he eventually had to be resuscitated. It was at this point that the doctor decided to transfer the teen to another hospital, but he died on the way.

 

“The boy was in pain. When we asked the doctor why he was in pain, he snapped at us and asked if we were doctors,” the teen’s grandfather told reporters. “Later in the evening, the boy stopped breathing. He was revived (with CPR) and then rushed to Patna. He died on the way. They left the boy’s body on the stairs of the hospital and fled.”

A complaint against Dr. Puri was filed by police and authorities are waiting for the autopsy results. Meanwhile, the runaway doctor is nowhere to be found, leading both the victim’s family and police to suspect that he wasn’t a real doctor.

Fake doctors are not uncommon in India. Earlier this year, one man was discovered practicing medicine in Mumbai using his wife’s medical degree. A few years ago, we also wrote about a man who managed to work in 16 private hospitals by pretending to be a doctor.