NHRC finds irregularities in Damoh fake-cardiologist case, orders relief

What the Record Shows

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in a press release dated 7 July 2025, announced the findings of its inquiry into Mission Hospital, Damoh, in Madhya Pradesh, a matter it had registered on 28 March 2025. The Commission found serious irregularities surrounding a person who had practised as a cardiologist at the hospital, and the treatment of patients who came to it under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

On the strength of those findings the NHRC issued a series of directions. It recommended that Rs 10 lakh be paid as relief to the next of kin of each of the seven patients who died following treatment by the person the Commission described as a fake cardiologist. It directed the registration of a first information report against the hospital management and those responsible, an Economic Offences Wing investigation into the alleged misuse of the Ayushman Bharat scheme and possible financial crime, and an inquiry by the Income Tax (Exemptions) authority into the hospital's foreign donations. It further directed cancellation of the hospital's licence and a nationwide verification of cardiac catheterisation laboratories.

Separately, the man at the centre of the case was arrested in April 2025 and the hospital's cath lab was sealed and its licence suspended by the state health department, per the action reported at the time. The NHRC's findings are those of a statutory commission and are recommendatory; the criminal case is at the investigation stage, and no accused has been convicted.

How It Worked

The core of the case, as the NHRC's inquiry found, is a credential that did not exist. A person without a valid medical registration is said to have practised as an interventional cardiologist, and, according to the account that emerged in the inquiry and in police complaints, did so using a fabricated registration and the borrowed identity of a real, internationally known British cardiologist, supported by a lookalike online presence. The cardiologist whose identity was said to have been used publicly confirmed the misuse, per reports.

In that assumed identity the person is alleged to have carried out a series of cardiac procedures at the hospital. Seven of the patients treated later died, a figure the NHRC states in its release. The Commission treated the deaths, the false credential and the billing as a single pattern of institutional failure rather than the act of one individual alone, which is why its directions reach the hospital management and not only the accused.

The NHRC also found a financial dimension layered on top of the clinical one. Its inquiry recorded that the hospital took foreign donations towards the treatment of patients holding Ayushman cards, while those same patients were separately billed substantial sums for procedures they were entitled to receive free under the scheme. That double draw, on a charitable funding stream and a public health-assurance scheme at once, is what prompted the parallel Economic Offences Wing and Income Tax directions.

Every characterisation of wrongdoing here is a finding of the NHRC's inquiry or an allegation under investigation. The criminal trial has not begun, and the culpability of the hospital's management, as distinct from that of the arrested individual, remains to be established.

Who Lost Money

The gravest cost in this case was borne by seven families whose relatives died after treatment, and the NHRC's central direction, Rs 10 lakh in relief to the next of kin of each, reflects that. Money is a poor measure of that loss, and the Commission framed the compensation as relief rather than as a substitute for accountability.

The financial injury the inquiry identified falls on two further groups. Patients who held Ayushman cards, and were therefore entitled to cash-free treatment, were allegedly billed large sums for procedures the scheme covers, so the very people the scheme exists to protect paid out of pocket. And donors who gave to a charitable hospital for the care of those patients saw that stream drawn on while the patients were billed anyway.

Behind them stands the public exchequer that funds the Ayushman Bharat scheme. Where a covered procedure is billed to the patient and also claimed or cross-subsidised through other funding, the scheme's purpose is defeated twice over. What any affected family or cardholder ultimately recovers will depend on the criminal case, the compensation direction and any departmental recovery.

Where It Stands Now

As of the most recent official record reviewed, the NHRC has completed its inquiry and issued its directions, and the matter has moved into the criminal-justice and departmental channels those directions set in motion. The arrested individual is before the investigating agencies; an FIR against the hospital management was directed, and the Economic Offences Wing and Income Tax inquiries were ordered. The state health department's licence action against the hospital had already been taken.

No court has convicted anyone, and the criminal trial is yet to begin. The NHRC's findings, while weighty, are recommendatory, and the guilt or otherwise of the accused and of the hospital's management will be decided by the trial court, not by the Commission.

An FIR contains allegations, not findings of guilt; the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and due process continues. This report attributes the findings in it to the NHRC's inquiry and the remaining claims to the investigating agencies, and treats none of them as established before a trial court.

What It Means

The case is the clearest illustration in recent memory of why a medical credential has to be verifiable, not merely presented. A registration number is not decoration: it can be checked against the state medical council or the National Medical Commission register, and the safeguard fails only when nobody checks. For hospitals, the lesson the NHRC pressed is that verifying credentials at the point of granting operating privileges is a patient-safety control, not paperwork.

For patients, two practical steps follow. A patient or family is entitled to ask for a doctor's registration number and to verify it on the official council register, particularly before an invasive procedure. And under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, covered treatment at an empanelled hospital is cash-free; being asked to pay for a procedure the scheme covers is itself a warning sign that can be raised with the scheme's grievance channel.

The billing pattern connects this matter to other Ayushman-related enforcement. More cases are collected in Oquilia's enforcement archive, including a PMJAY angioplasty case in which a hospital chairman was denied bail and a CBI case on bribery for medical-college inspections.

FAQ

What did the NHRC find and direct?

In its release of 7 July 2025 the NHRC found serious irregularities at Mission Hospital, Damoh, involving a person who practised as a cardiologist without a valid registration and the billing of Ayushman patients. It directed Rs 10 lakh in relief for the next of kin of each of seven patients who died, an FIR against the management, Economic Offences Wing and Income Tax inquiries, cancellation of the hospital's licence and a nationwide check of cath labs.

Does this mean the people named are guilty?

No. An FIR contains allegations, not findings of guilt, and the NHRC's inquiry findings are recommendatory. Everyone accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and due process continues. The criminal trial has not begun, and this report attributes each claim to the NHRC or the investigating agencies.

Were patients billed for free Ayushman treatment?

The NHRC's inquiry found that patients holding Ayushman cards, who were entitled to cash-free treatment, were billed substantial sums for procedures covered by the scheme, and that the hospital had also taken foreign donations towards their care. These are the Commission's findings, and the financial aspects are being examined further by the Economic Offences Wing and the Income Tax authority.

Has anyone been convicted?

No. A person was arrested in April 2025 and the hospital's licence was acted on by the state, but no accused has been convicted. The matter is at the investigation and pre-trial stage, and the guilt of the individual and of the hospital management is yet to be tested at trial.

Where can I read the official record, and how do I verify a doctor's registration?

The NHRC press release dated 7 July 2025 sets out the inquiry findings and directions and is published on the Commission's official website. A doctor's registration can be verified on the relevant state medical council register or the National Medical Commission's registry, and an Ayushman cardholder can confirm cash-free entitlement at an empanelled hospital before any payment.

This report is based on the press release of the National Human Rights Commission dated 7 July 2025 and the directions it records, reviewed on 4 August 2026.