A northern suburbs GP clinic publicly admonished by Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson for not meeting with the family of a toddler who died in March last year after his leukaemia went undetected is partially owned by one of Sanderson’s own Labor colleagues.
One-year-old Sandipan Dhar’s death from the blood cancer on March 24 sent shockwaves through the state after it was revealed it went undetected despite several GP appointments at the Key Largo Medical Centre in Clarkson and the Joondalup Health Campus ED in the days prior.
Sandipan Dhar died aged 21 months.
WAtoday can reveal Labor’s Riverton MP Jagadish Krishnan owns a 10 per cent share in Key Largo Medical Centre and one of its directors, Vishnu Gopalan, is his business partner in their Spectrum Health GP venture.
Sanderson has in the past lamented the difficulty in getting in touch with the practice and wrote a letter to the practice manager in August 2024 pleading with them to meet with the family and discuss their concerns. They did not meet the family.
In November Sanderson gave Key Largo a public dressing down for not being involved in a health department review of Sandipan’s care.
“Their view is that they are simply a subcontractor for general practitioners. My view, and I think the community’s view, is that when you present yourself as a care provider, that you are then accountable to the people that you provide care for as a corporate entity,” Sanderson said at the time.
“Not withstanding any other investigations that may be undergoing, but I urge them to be more forthcoming with sitting down and listening to the family,
“I think that would be a very important exercise for them to do.”
Sandipan’s father Sanjoy Dhar said he was shocked to learn of Krishnan’s part ownership of the practice and said he would have liked him to also reach out through friends they had in common.
“I am a bit surprised,” he told WAtoday.
“[Key Largo] have not bothered to make a phone call or to send a letter saying sorry.
Premier Roger Cook and Riverton MP Dr Jagadish Krishnan (Dr Jags).Credit: Facebook/Dr Jags
“They did not bother to reply to us after the honorable Health Minister wrote to them.
“It was not hard for [Krishnan] to communicate and contact to us.”
The family’s advocate Suresh Rajan said he was deeply disappointed and shocked to hear Krishnan was part owner of the practice.
“I have had many conversations with Dr Jags recently and he has never offered support or condolences to the family,” he said.
“For a person committed to community life as a parliamentarian that is deeply disappointing.”
Krishnan’s shareholding in Key Largo is one of nearly 70 shareholdings in medical-related businesses held by Srishanaa Pty Ltd, which – according to current ASIC records – he is the sole shareholder with his wife the sole director.
WAtoday understands the relationship between Krishnan and Gopalan has soured with the pair involved in a court case with each other over money.
In response to questions for Sanderson and Krishnan a WA Labor spokesman said the doctor had no involvement with the practice, its management or its operations.
“Dr Jags’ family trust holds a minor shareholding in the medical centre, as it does for a range of businesses,” he said.
“It is disappointing that the practice continues to ignore the Dhar family, and we once again call for the practice to address the family’s concerns.”
Sandipan’s death triggered an APRHA investigation into the three Key Largo GPs that cared for him, who were cleared of any wrongdoing in December.
Dhar did not agree with AHPRA’s findings and plans to challenge them.
He said he was looking forward to a coronial inquest into the death of his son scheduled for May.
“We are expecting that all the truth will be revealed there,” he said.