Nana Patekar Medico-Legal Case: Why His Death Was Registered as an MLC and What Happens Next

Nana Patekar medico-legal case explained: why the death was registered as an MLC, what the Goa post-mortem decides, and what happens next

By North Desk Bureau

Nana Patekar Medico-Legal Case: The death of veteran actor Nana Patekar in Goa on Thursday has been registered as a medico-legal case (MLC), with his body sent to Goa Medical College for post-mortem. The hospital where he was taken says he was brought dead, a category that triggers the registration automatically.

Dr Shekhar Salkar, head of the oncology department at Manipal Hospital, told ANI that the actor was declared dead at about 5:30 am. “He was brought dead,” Dr Salkar said, adding that police had to be informed because “there’s an MLC.”  

ALSO: Nana Patekar Best Role: Dropped, Then Cast As Anna In Parinda

Nana Patekar Medico-Legal Case: What the hospital says happened

Nana Patekar Medico-Legal Case: Dr Salkar said that, as far as the hospital could recall, Patekar messaged a friend around 2:30 am to say he was unwell. The friend did not see the message at night and called him instead. The friend reached his house around 4 am. By then, according to Dr Salkar, the actor was sweating and gradually losing consciousness. A caretaker was sent to the hospital and returned with a Manipal ambulance.

The hospital’s emergency team found Patekar “totally unresponsive” and began cardiac massage. He was shifted to the hospital around 4:20 or 4:30 am. Dr Salkar said cardiac massage continued for “almost 45 minutes to an hour” without success. He said friends and a caretaker were with Patekar, and his family was not there.

ALSO: NANA PATEKAR DIES AT 75 IN GOA

What is a medico-legal case?

Nana Patekar Medico-Legal Case: An MLC is a case in which a doctor sees both a medical and a legal dimension and the police must be informed. Hospital guidelines include deaths where the person is brought dead, or arrives comatose or unconscious from an unknown cause.

In such cases the hospital enters the case in its MLC register and informs the nearest police station, and no consent from the family is needed. Registration is a procedural requirement of the hospital. Dr Salkar described the police intimation in those terms. It is not a finding about how or why a person died.

What happens next

Nana Patekar Medico-Legal Case: Police are informed and an inquest is conducted. The post-mortem at Goa Medical College is meant to establish the cause of death. Under hospital MLC protocols, cause of death is not certified until then.

Doctors can order further tests on preserved samples, which can delay a final opinion beyond the day of the post-mortem. The body is released to the family after the formalities.  

Background

Patekar, born Vishwanath Patekar, was 75, one of Hindi and Marathi cinema’s most acclaimed actors, with National Film Awards, the Padma Shri (2013) and a long run of roles from Parinda and Krantiveer to Welcome and The Vaccine War. He also worked with farmers’ families through the Naam Foundation.

ALSO: NANA PATEKAR DIES AT 75 IN GOA

ALSO: Nana Patekar Best Role: Dropped, Then Cast As Anna In Parinda

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