Hyderabad: The ethics committee of the Telangana Medical Council has taken a strong view of the video recording presented by Mr Govardhan Reddy, father of Mr Nikhil Reddy who had undergone the controversial limb-lengthening operation.

In the video, orthopaedic Dr Chandra Bhushan is seen claiming Mr Nikhil would walk in two days. A furious Mr Reddy presented his case before the council on Wednesday and called for action against hospital and doctor.

Is doing surgery on a healthy person justified? Was it a clinical experiment carried out by the doctor as the patient was psychologically disturbed and wanted to increase his height? Is there no committee before whom these proposals must be placed before surgery?,” he asked.

Experts say cosmetic surgeries are based completely on an understanding between doctor and patient. A senior orthopaedic surgeon on condition of anonymity said, “Height lengthening, in cases with no injury, is cosmetic in nature and is done with the consent of the patient.

This was the first cosmetic height lengthening which was carried out in the state and due to non-consent from parents, it has escalated.” But in New Delhi, 150 cosmetic lengthening procedures have been conducted by orthopedic surgeon Dr Amar Sarin.

A few of those Delhi cases triggered much hue and cry and since then wary doctors have started opting for video consent from patient and family.

Dr Chandra Bhushan, the treating orthopedic surgeon explained, “Video consent of Nikhil would have made the picture clear to the parents. About the father’s video, post-surgery walking is done under supervision. The post-operative recovery is a long process, which was explained to Nikhil. He wanted an increase of 0.3 inch, which needs a longer duration process."

Nikhil has achieved an increase of 0.1 inch and was to start walking from last Friday but the family didn’t want it. Next week the rehabilitation team will make him stand and walk for a few weeks before he can use the assistance of a walker.