The news network said it is investigating the identity of a patient that Gupta claimed to have performed brain surgery on while reporting on the Nepal earthquake in April.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Chris Pizzello / AP
Salina Dahal
CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is under scrutiny after a Global Press Journal report alleged Monday that he falsely claimed to have performed brain surgery on an 8-year-old survivor of the devastating Nepal earthquake in April.
In a CNN report and video published on April 28, Gupta — who CNN describes as a "practicing neurosurgeon" — was shown inside the Bir Hospital in Nepal apparently performing a craniotomy on Salina Dahal, an 8-year-old girl from a remote village in Nepal who suffered injuries during the earthquake.
In the video, the CNN host says Gupta "jumped into action" as the hospital had more patients than they could accommodate. As the camera focuses on Dahal sitting on a hospital bed with a bandaged head, the host asks Gupta: "Tell us about the little girl that we're seeing on the screen whom you just performed brain surgery on."
Gupta then goes on to describe her as Dahal, who he says fell on her head and suffered a "significant brain injury" when her house collapsed during the earthquake. CNN's written report on the surgery said Dahal's "skull was fractured" and that "blood [had] collected on top of her brain, in the right frontal area, and she urgently [needed] surgery to remove the clots."
After the reported surgery was over, Gupta said: "She's doing well, she's recovering well."
However, after the Global Press Journal (GPJ) tracked down Dahal and her family, it was revealed that Dahal never underwent a brain surgery or operation of any kind. According to her medical records, she had minor head wounds and a broken wrist, GPJ reported.
Gupta's description of Salina Dahal's apparent head injuries were actually the injuries suffered by Sandhya Chalise, a 14-year-old earthquake survivor, according to GPJ. Chalise did undergo brain surgery at the hospital, with her family telling GPJ that they saw Gupta enter her hospital room in his scrubs but were unaware of what he did inside.
CNN confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the identity of the patient who Gupta operated on was "unclear" and that they were conducting their own investigation.
"Dr. Gupta assisted with a craniotomy on a patient who was a child," a CNN spokeswoman said. However, she could not confirm who the child was.
Gupta told CNN on Wednesday that he was aware that the patient he operated on "may not have been this 8-year-old girl, but rather separately, a 14-year-old girl in the same hospital."
"We're trying to independently verify exactly which child it was that got the operation at that time," Gupta said. "There were many children, many people in the hospital but we're working to verify that."
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1HbhVXD
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