The move followed a letter from the President of Bangladesh Medical Association, Moulavibazar branch, Dr Md Shabbir Hossain who alleged that Dr Naimul Haque Shammy died due to negligence during an angiogram procedure.

“We served a notice on the Labaid to explain it. We are expecting that Labaid will come up with an explanation within two to three days,” BMDC President Prof Mohammad Shahidullah told bdnews24.com on Sunday.

Labaid’s Chief Operating Officer Al Emran Chowdhury said they would soon submit their explanation. “We are preparing our own investigation report.”

“He had been suffering from multiple blocks in heart arteries. He also had a previous history of heart attack. He deferred his angiogram twice. During the procedure, he suffered a sudden panic attack and pressure shot up, and he suffered a cardiac arrest,” he told bdnews24.com.

The patient died on Dec 12. The Moulavibazar BMA leader wrote the letter to the BMDC on Dec 17.

The angiogram was carried out by a well-known cardiologist, Prof Dr Abdul Wadud Chowdhury, head of the cardiology department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.“I can tell you I tried my best. I explained the case to the BMA. I also want this to be properly investigated,” he told bdnews24.com on Friday.

He said his patient had been suffering from “severe triple vessel disease” which means blockages in all three of the major coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart.

How risky is an angiogram?

In most cases, angiogram is a simple procedure to diagnose heart conditions. A thin tube called a catheter is placed into a blood vessel in the groin or just above the elbow to take pictures of the blood flows in an artery. A special dye is used to get a clear view.

Most of the time it is carried out using local anaesthetic to the area where the catheter is inserted.  General anaesthetic is mostly used for young patients.

“There is a very, very rare chance of death during angiogram,” Prof Afzalur Rahman, President of Bangladesh Society of Cardiovascular Intervention, explained to bdnews24.com.

“I can say there is no risk at all except for some patients with severe blockage or heart attack. In such cases, it is risky to perform angiogram. But there is no alternative to it. Doctors have to take the risk for the survival of the patient in emergencies.”

He said in 2O15, over 4O,OOO angiograms were carried out in Bangladesh. “But we don’t have any records to indicate deaths due to angiogram.”

“It’s a gold standard test for diagnosis of coronary artery disease and for determining the severity of the condition and deciding the modalities of the treatment,” he explained.

Before the procedure, Prof Afzalur said, a patient is asked to go through a number of standard tests particularly to determine the kidney or liver conditions.

BMDC investigation

Patients rarely complain to the statutory body BMDC which is the licencing authorities for doctors in Bangladesh.

The BMDC President, Prof Shahidullah, said, on getting the reply from the Labaid, a five-member disciplinary board chaired by a director of the government’s health services will look into the issue.

“After that, we’ll go for further procedure,” he said.“We take action based on the gravity of the fault. We can take action against the doctor as we are the licensing authority. We cannot take action against a hospital. The DG health can take action against the hospital since they are the authority. But we work together,” he said.

In recent times, the BMDC investigated a Japan-Bangladesh Friendship Hospital case, but  did not find the doctor guilty.

“We have another pending issue,” the president said.

The Labaid Hospitals earlier in 2O11 paid Tk 5 million to the family of late Dhaka University teacher Mridul Kanti Chakrabarty after court summoned the private hospital’s top executives over allegation of negligence.