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SYDNEY : A surgeon linked to the deaths of more than a dozen patients in Australia is expected to be extradited from the United States within days, a top politician said on Sunday.
Nicknamed "Doctor Death" by the Australian media, Indian-born Jayant Patel is at the centre of a scandal which has brought procedures for recruitment of foreign doctors under intense scrutiny in Australia.
The 58-year-old, who is a US citizen is facing a series of charges over 17 patient deaths, including manslaughter, relating to his time as director of surgery at a hospital in Queensland state from 2003 to 2005.
Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh on Sunday told reporters that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had signed off on papers to permit Patel's extradition and he was expected back in Australia within days.
Patel is in custody in the United States, which has been his permanent home for many years. A US court has placed a limit of Monday on the extradition process, and would order Patel's release from custody on bail if he was not extradited by then.
Bligh said Sunday that the process was on track.
"We have no concerns about any problems with the deadline, all of the advice we have is that this process in on track," Bligh said. "The US authorities have advised that the process is proceeding.
"We're confident that he will be back in the country in the next few days, and when that's known that will become public."
Patel, who is being held in Los Angeles, was expected to be put on a flight to Australia and handed over to police.
Critics have alleged that Patel was recruited to his post in the Queensland city of Bundaberg despite concerns about his competence when previously practising in the United States.
- AFP/vm
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