THE family of a young man who died during a routine operation faces an agonising three-month wait to find out whether a surgeon will be charged over his death.
Police said Dr Pravin Chaturbhai Patel was arrested in London on Thursday on suspicion of manslaughter, after months of police inquiries into the death of wheelchair-user Andrew Ryan, 20, at Shotley Bridge Hospital, in Consett, County Durham, in July 1997.
Yesterday, after questioning, Dr Patel was granted bail to return to Durham Police Station in December, pending further police inquiries.
Mr Ryan, of Pilgrims Way, Durham City, died during a routine circumcision operation after Dr Patel administered four local anaesthetic injections.
Detectives from County Durham travelled south on Thursday morning and arrested Dr Patel, 50, at a private address, in Harrow, Middlesex.
A Durham Police spokesman said: "The man was a member of the surgical team at Shotley Bridge. He was arrested at a private address and taken to a local police station for interview."
Last night, Mr Ryan's family declined to comment.
At the inquest into Mr Ryan's death, in May last year, North Durham Coroner Andrew Tweddle recorded a verdict of misadventure.
The inquest heard there was conflicting evidence about the amount of a local anaesthetic - lignocaine - administered to Mr Ryan, who suffered from muscular dystrophy.
A post-mortem examination showed he died of natural causes from acute respiratory failure and heart problems.
Pathologist Dr Paul Barrett later amended his report and referred to the contribution played by the anaesthetic in Mr Ryan's death.
Dr Barret said he believed Mr Ryan, who weighed four stones, was in a critical condition because of muscular dystrophy when he went into the operating theatre, and the high dosage of lignocaine would have been the final straw.
At the inquest, Mr Ryan's mother, Jean, said a nurse had come to collect her from the ward and told her it was believed he had suffered a fit in the operating theatre.
Yesterday the General Medical Council was unable to say where Dr Patel now practices, but confirmed that he lives in Harrow
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