A simple hair transplant surgery carried out by two unqualified doctors has claimed the life of a 22-year-old final year medical student in Chennai.

Santosh Kumar, an MBBS student of the Madras Medical College, died one day after the botched surgery conducted at the ‘Advanced Robotic Hair Transplant Centre’ in Nungambakkam, Chennai. The incident has sparked a major backlash, especially after it was discovered that the salon had a license only for hair cutting and styling, but was conducting procedures that were almost minor surgeries without any requisite clearance. The centre has now been sealed by authorities.

Though Santosh died on May 17th, the story only came to the fore on June 7.

What Actually Happened to Santosh?

It was a case of grade 2 baldness – where baldness is present in the front of the head. Santosh had opted for the Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE), a technique in which follicular units are removed directly from the donor area and the grafts are then transplanted into bald areas. The procedure needs to be performed under local anaesthesia, that too by a surgeon as it is considered a minor surgical procedure.

The transplant for Santosh was done by Dr Hariprasad Kasturi, an anaesthetist, and Dr A Vineeth Suryakumar, an MBBS degree holder from a college in China.

Dr Vineeth Kumar, the doctor at ARHT Transplant centre, was not a surgeon equipped with either a dermatology or plastic surgery degree – a basic qualification in the field. Moreover, Dr Hariprasad Kasturi, the anaesthetist was not present throughout the procedure after administering anaesthesia – another basic requirement ignored. More importantly, the transplant was done at a salon that didn’t have the permission for transplant.

After the surgery, Santosh gradually showed signs of discomfort as the follicles were being replanted and was taken to the clinic where the anaesthetist worked. Drowsiness and a fever persisted, but the doctor had assured him that nothing was wrong and this wasn’t unusual, Santosh’s friend Jayapraveen told a daily. “He was then taken to Guest Hospital in Kilpauk and given a paracetamol injection. As he left for his hometown in Thiruvannamalai, it only got worse – fever, diarrhoea and vomiting. The next day his family admitted him to CMC Vellore, where he was shifted to the ICU.”

“On the way, his fingers started turning blue. His kidney failed and he was recommended dialysis. And the next day, he had multiple organ failure,” Jayapraveen said. And finally, a cardiac arrest took his life on May 17th. Santosh had organ failure due to delayed anaphylaxis, an allergic reaction which can be triggered by anaesthesia.

The entire incident might have gone unnoticed had students at the Madras Medical College not pressed the Tamil Nadu Medical Council for an investigation. The state medical council has issued a notice to both the doctors asking explanation from them for conducting the transplantation without having the necessary qualification.

The sheer negligence of an unqualified doctor cost a life, rues Santosh’s father Pandiaraj. “I want strict action against the person who conducted the surgery and who administered the anaesthesia, Hariprasad. I want all other centres like this shut, so nothing else happens with another person. These men are solely responsible for my son’s death,” laments Pandiaraj. Kumar is the only son of Josebeen and Pandiaraj. He was born 20 years after their marriage.