Did not have time to renew registration: Dr Sangjukta

Gynaecologist Dr Sangjukta Saha has said she mistakenly did not renew her registration with the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) in nearly 13 years.

Replying to a journalist's question at a press conference on Saturday, Dr Sangjukta said, "I should've renewed my registration earlier. But I am usually so busy that I could not find the time. It was a mistake."

The doctor also said that her previous workplace would deal with the paperwork itself. But her current workplace - the Central Hospital - did not do so.

On June 10, a woman named Mahbuba Rahman Akhi was hospitalised with labour pain under Dr Saha at the Central Hospital in Dhaka. Due to alleged mismanagement, her newborn died the same night while Akhi died on June 18.

Akhi's husband Yeakub Ali filed a case in this regard against six identified and several more unidentified people on June 10.

On June 20, Dr Sangjukta Saha held a press conference where she blamed Central Hospital for the tragic incident. Claiming that Akhi was not her patient, she said, “Central Hospital made false statements about me.”

The Central Hospital announced that they would hold a press conference regarding the incident. However, it was called off at the last minute.

On June 22, a lawyer on behalf of the Central Hospital sent a legal notice to Gynaecologist Dr Sangjukta Saha, asking her to withdraw the 'defamatory' comments she made against the hospital.

/KN/