Indian-born Dr. Ashok Muralidaran criticized for wronged heart surgery in Oregon: ‘India awards fake degrees’
Orgon Health and Science University is being sued for $17 million for performing wrong heart surgery on a 13-year-old girl, providing fodder for anti-India rhetoric on social media because the doctor who performed the surgery was Dr. Ashok Muralidaran, an Indian-origin pediatric heart surgeon.Steven and Lori Stokes filed a $17 million lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court against OHSU and Dr. Ashok Muralidaran, who performed the surgery, alleging medical negligence. On August 15, 2025, the OHSU surgical team led by Dr. Muralidharan performed open-heart surgery on a 13-year-old girl to implant a heart valve. The procedure required surgeons to stop her heart while she underwent bypass surgery, but after the procedure, doctors were unable to restart her heart, the lawsuit said. She was treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a system that mechanically pumps blood through a heart-lung machine to reoxygenate the blood and circulate it back into the body.The parents claim doctors told them the surgery went well and that her heart may not be working properly due to the shock of the surgery. They said ECMO would gradually restart her heart, but that didn’t happen.The girl remained in the intensive care unit the next day before being transferred to the operating room for exploratory surgery to determine what had happened. The girl was kept in intensive care for three days with a chest incision, but doctors could not pinpoint any reason, the parents said. They began discussing end-of-life decisions, including organ donation, with their parents, the lawsuit says.The parents took a risk and transferred her to Seattle Children’s Hospital, where doctors said the valve was not in the correct position—the implant was upside down. After the surgery, her condition stabilized and she was able to go home more than a month later.OHSU has not commented on the lawsuit, saying it is not yet concluded.
“India offers fake degrees”
Although Dr. Muralidharan completed advanced medical studies in the United States, India haters on social media slammed the development and held Indian medical education responsible. “As per the National Medical Council (NMC) regulations, Indian doctors are approved with 50% standard passing marks (minimum requirement) in MBBS and similar courses in Indian medical colleges. That’s an “F” in America! ! ! ” one netizen wrote.“They still have to take their medical board exams here. No matter where they went to medical school. They can’t move here and start practicing,” said another person in response to the “India offers fake medical degrees” argument.“This person did his fellowship at Yale. There are 1,000-1,500 surgical items on reserve every year in the US. Thousands of people die due to errors. All without tracking where she thinks the problem is. Happy to debate immigration. But it’s not,” added another.
