A $17 million lawsuit against Organ Health & Science University for botched heart surgery on a 13-year-old girl fueled an anti-India narrative on social media because the doctor who performed the surgery was Indian-origin pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Ashok Muraleedharan.Steven and Lori Stokes filed a $17 million lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court against OHSU and Dr. Ashok Muralidharan, who performed the surgery, alleging negligence in medical care. On August 15, 2025, an OHSU surgical team led by Dr. Muraleedharan performed open-heart surgery on a 13-year-old girl to implant a heart valve. The lawsuit alleges that surgeons were required to stop her heart during the procedure while she was on cardiac bypass, but after the surgery, doctors were unable to restart her heart. She was placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, a system that mechanically pumps blood through a heart-lung machine, which reoxygenates it and circulates it back into the body.The parents alleged that doctors told them that his surgery went very well and that his heart was probably not functioning properly due to the shock of the surgery. They said the ECMO would slowly restart his heart but that did not happen.The following day, the girl remained in the intensive care unit and then was taken to the operating room for exploratory surgery to determine what had happened. The parents said the girl was kept in the ICU with an open chest incision for three days, but doctors could not provide any reason. He began discussing end-of-life decisions, including organ donation, with parents, the lawsuit said.The parents took the risk of transferring him to Seattle Children’s Hospital, where doctors said the valve was not positioned properly—it had been implanted upside down. After the surgery, her condition became stable and after more than a month she was able to return home.OHSU did not comment on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation.
‘India gives fake degrees’
India-haters on social media attacked the development and blamed Indian medical education, although Dr Muraleedharan did his advanced medical studies in the US. “Regulated by the National Medical Commission (NMC), Indian doctors are approved into Indian medical schools for MBBS and similar programs at 50% standard passing grade (minimum requirement). This is an “F” in the United States of America!!!” one wrote.Responding to the ‘India gives out fake medical degrees’ debate, another said, “They still have to give the medical board exam here. No matter where they studied medical school. They can’t come here and start practicing.”“This guy did his fellowship at Yale. 1,000-1,500 surgical items put in the US every year. 10 thousand people killed by mistake. None of this addresses where she thinks the problem is. Happy to debate immigration. But that’s not who she is,” said another.