The ongoing trial of Indian-American doctor Jayant Patel in an Australian court has been adjourned due to some legal matters.
The trial in Brisbane Supreme Court has lost its seventh sitting on Tuesday after the jury was sent home without hearing any evidence when legal matters arose for the second day in a row.
The 60-year-old Patel is accused of causing deaths of three Queensland patients -- James Phillips, 46, Mervyn Morris, 75, and Gerardus Kemp, 77 -- and permanently injuring another when he performed operations as director of surgery at the Bundaberg Base Hospital between 2003 and 2005.
The jury was expected to hear the final leg of the crown case involving allegations that Patel was responsible for the death of patient James Phillips, according to Courier Mail newspaper.
The court was told that Phillips had died two days after Patel performed an oesophagectomy operation on him in May 2003.
Patel, accused of manslaughter, has been dubbed as 'Dr Death' by the media here, and was extradited from the US for a trial last year.
Patel has pleaded not guilty to unlawfully killing three patients and causing grievous bodily harm to a fourth one.
His trial was also adjourned on Friday due to a legal matter.
The former director of medical services at the Bundaberg Base Hospital, Darren Keating, has been listed to give evidence in the case on Wednesday.
