Legal Notice Sent to Doctors Over Mamata Banerjees Medical Report Disclosure

Kolkata, October 5 (Daily Kiran) : Kolkata’s former Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, has taken legal action against three prominent doctors associated with the SSKM Medical College and Hospital and the Bangur Institute of Neurosciences. Her lawyer, Arka Kumar Nag, sent a legal notice on Monday regarding the unauthorized public disclosure of her medical report, which allegedly violated confidentiality rules between patient and doctor.

The notice was addressed to Dr. Manimay Bandyopadhyay, Director of SSKM, Dr. Piyush Kumar Roy, Medical Superintendent and Vice-Principal of Bangur Institute, and Dr. Atanu Biswas, head of the Neurology Department at Bangur. The document claims that the information released was incomplete and biased against Banerjee.

In the two-page notice sent via email, Nag raised concerns about whether Banerjee’s consent was obtained before making the report public, emphasizing that such actions breach the confidentiality expected in the patient-doctor relationship. He asserted that if the information was leaked without proper authorization or legal procedures, appropriate actions should be taken against the involved parties.

This legal notice comes amid serious allegations made by Suvendu Adhikari against Banerjee. Adhikari accused her of falsely claiming to have sustained a leg fracture during the 2021 assembly elections while campaigning in the Nandigram constituency. He referenced a radiodiagnosis report from March 11, 2021, which indicated no signs of a fracture at that time. Adhikari announced that a separate investigation would commence following the announcement of results for the upcoming by-elections in Nandigram and Rejendranagar on October 9.

In response, Kunal Ghosh, a Trinamool Congress MLA from the Beleghata constituency, questioned the authenticity of the report, suggesting it may have been tampered with. He noted that given the current BJP government in West Bengal, skepticism regarding the report’s validity is warranted. Ghosh also highlighted on social media that disclosing personal medical information is not standard practice for doctors or institutions.

Just two days after Ghosh’s remarks, Banerjee’s lawyer acted swiftly by sending the legal notice to the three doctors regarding the alleged breach of her medical records. The notice inquired whether any medical documents of the former Chief Minister had been shared with the current Chief Minister and if proper legal protocols were followed in that process.

Banerjee’s lawyer further insisted on ensuring that her “medical confidentiality” is respected and that misleading information should not be disseminated in the future. In 2021, Banerjee contested the assembly elections from Nandigram as the Trinamool Congress candidate but lost by a narrow margin. Later, she won a by-election from the Bhawanipur constituency, securing her position as West Bengal’s Chief Minister for a third consecutive term. During her campaigning in Nandigram, she was injured and used a wheelchair while still promoting her candidacy, with her leg in a cast.