A 'reserved category' doctor operated on the wrong leg of a woman

Claim

A poster is going viral on social media calling for a reservation-free India. The viral claim says that a doctor, appointed under reversed category, has mistakenly operated on a woman’s right leg instead of her left leg.

Link; Archive Link

On the social media site, X (formerly Twitter), a user named Manoj Sharma shared the viral poster. The poster shows a woman and her family in a hospital. The logo of the news channel TV9 Bharatvarsh is also seen on the poster, affixed on the upper right side of the poster.

Furthermore, text in poster reads: “The reserved category doctor operated on a woman’s right leg instead of her left leg.”

Link

In addition, several other users have also shared the viral poster with similar claims.

Link

Fact Check

To investigate the viral claim, the DFRAC conducted a search on the official Facebook page of TV9 Bharatvarsh. During this search, a similar poster was found, which was shared on December 27, 2024. However, the poster only states that “The fractured woman’s left leg was supposed to be treated, but the doctor operated on the right one.”

Here is a screenshot of the original post by TV9 Bharatvarsh on Facebook. The original poster has informed about a doctor who operated on the wrong leg of a woman. Instead of operating on left leg, he operated on right leg. There is no mention of a reserved category doctor, as seen in the viral post.

Link

Further investigation led to a TV9 Bharatvarsh report related to the incident, which explained that the event occurred with Bhuila Devi, a resident of Sikri Kanupur village in the Kanhai police station area of Pratapgarh district. After Bhuila Devi injured her left leg, she became unable to walk. An X-ray revealed a fracture in her left leg, following which the doctor recommended surgery.

A screenshot of the news story on TV9 Bharatvarsh website in Hindi. The story stated about this incident. Bhuila Devi, of Sikri Kanupur village in Kanhai police station area of Pratapgarh district, had injured her left leg. An X-ray revealed a fracture on her left leg. However, due to some mix-up the doctor operated on her right leg. Family objected on this and correct surgery was performed on her left leg. The doctor who performed the surgery, Dr PK Pandey, is fleeing from the scene. So, it proves that there is no reserved category doctor involved in this case.

Link

However, after the operation, when Bhuila Devi was brought out, her family noticed that the surgery was performed on her right leg instead of the left one. This caused panic among the family members, and they immediately questioned the hospital administration. Bhuila Devi was then taken back to the operation room, and the correct surgery was performed on her left leg.

After the incident, news of the mix-up spread rapidly, causing chaos in the hospital. The doctor who performed the surgery, Dr. P.K. Pandey, disappeared from the scene. The hospital administration later clarified that the operation was carried out on the left leg’s broken tibia, while the right leg had swelling and blood accumulation, which was drained. However, this explanation did not satisfy the family or the public.

Conclusion

Therefore, the fact check by DFRAC clearly reveals that the viral claim is misleading. The viral poster has been edited and the term ‘reservation holder or reserved category’ has been digitally added to the original poster. The TV9 news report reveals the doctor is not from the reserved category and has fled from the scene.