NEW JERSEY: The appellate court of the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners recently suspended the license of a desi physician and imposed penalties after he was found to have wrongfully operated on a patient.

Santusht Perera's physician's license was suspended after he removed portions of the wrong lung during surgery and allegedly attempted to conceal the error. Perera was issued a two-year suspension on June 5 from the State Board of Medical Examiners, according to a WNBC.com report. The Board's appellate court upheld the suspension in Perera's appeal case with a final decision on June 12.

Perera had performed surgery on Richard Flagg, a 60-year old man suffering a slew of ailments including coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, chronic pulmonary disease and sleep apnea. Flagg was referred to Perera for surgery by another physician who had performed biopsy on Flagg's lungs. The earlier biopsy had shown a tumor on Flagg's left lung. However, Parera allegedly performed surgery on the patient's right lung and removed lung tissue where it was no necessary.

After the surgery, Perera allegedly told the patient, the right lung tissue, which was wrongfully removed, contained a life-threatening tumor even though he knew it did not. He altered his records to show he intended to operate on the right lung even though he was actually supposed to remove the tumor in the left lung.

The board's appellate court said it denied Perera's appeal due to the seriousness of his offense and the danger posed to the public. According to state medical officials, Perera's misconduct prevented Flagg from being properly treated, says the WNBC report. Before he died in September 2003, Flagg testified before Congress arguing for patients' rights in malpractice cases. Perera's suspension from his practice at Hoboken University Medical Center began from June 6.

He has been fined $30,000 in penalties and $51,273.10 in reimbursement of costs. Perera also practiced from his offices in Tea Neck, NJ; Jersey City, Pavonia Medical Associates in Secaucus and the Medowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus.