Doctor sentenced after amputating wrong leg and causing patient’s death in Fergana

A doctor in Fergana has been sentenced to four years in prison for amputating both legs of a patient—mistakenly removing a healthy limb—which ultimately led to the patient’s death. QALAMPIR.UZ reviewed the court verdict.

According to the court document, the doctor was serving as head of the surgical department at the Fergana branch of the Republican Specialized Endocrinology Center.

On October 18, 2024, the patient was brought to the institution by his children. He was diagnosed with “severe type 2 diabetes mellitus, decompensation stage, neuroischemic type of DTS, Wanger-4, condition after amputation of the left lower leg, and a comminuted fracture of the knee joint.”

At the time, the head of the surgical department was officially on vacation, and his duties were temporarily assigned to another doctor, D.R. However, doubting the temporary head’s experience, the vacationing doctor dismissed him and personally decided to carry out the surgical procedure. He planned an “amputation of the left thigh” despite the lack of proper medical indications and documented the procedure under D.R.’s name.

On October 19, 2024, the operation was conducted by the vacationing doctor with the assistance of employees and non-specialist students he had selected. During the operation, the patient’s right leg—completely healthy and unrelated to the illness—was amputated at the thigh. Subsequently, his left leg was also removed without obtaining consent from the patient’s relatives.

Due to the double amputation, including the removal of a healthy limb, the patient’s condition deteriorated, and he died on November 7, 2024.

On May 6, 2025, the Kuva District Court found the doctor guilty under Part 3 of Article 116 of the Criminal Code (failure to perform professional duties properly). He was sentenced to four years of imprisonment and banned for three years from working as a manager or doctor within the healthcare system under Article 45 of the Criminal Code (deprivation of certain rights).

The case was reviewed on appeal by the Fergana Regional Court. In his appeal, the doctor argued that his actions were not criminal and that the patient’s death was unrelated to his medical practice, requesting the verdict be overturned and an acquittal granted. However, the appellate court upheld the initial decision, rejecting the appeal.