Dentist kicks off legal action against Matt Hancock and PHE

A dentist has kicked off an action group to take legal action against the government after losing his father to COVID-19A dentist has set up an action group to take legal action against the government after losing his father to COVID-19. 

Implant surgeon Dr Minesh Talati initiated the challenge after his 80-year-old Father, Navin S. Talati, passed away on 18 April 2020 with COVID-19 viral pneumonia.

The NHS healthcare provider also contracted the virus, alongside his elderly mother and his pregnant wife.

The legal battle seeks to hold secretary of state for health and social care, Matt Hancock, and Public Health England (PHE), to account.

On the fundraising page, Dr Talati states many deaths could have been prevented had the government acted earlier.

‘Coronavirus is a disaster that we should have been prepared for, because it was expected. If the government had acted earlier in their response to COVID-19 thousands of lives would have been saved,’ he writes.

‘The state had not done all that is required of it to prevent our lives from being avoidably put at risk.’

For those who have suffered

It is alleged that Mr Hancock did not do all ‘that could be reasonably expected of him to avoid a real and immediate risk to life from COVID-19’.

He writes: ‘I am intending to hold the secretary of state for health and social care to account in the courts and take legal action.

‘This is on the basis that the secretary of state and the executive agency PHE has failed to comply with their duties under article 2 of the Human Rights Act.’

Additionally, he cites the continued use of airports and the suspension of mass testing in early March were likely to have contributed to the consequences of the pandemic so far.

Dr Talati added: ‘I am forming an action group to launch legal action on behalf of all those who have suffered and lost loved ones as a consequence of the failures of the government to restrict the spread of coronavirus.

‘I believe that together we can hold the government to account.’

Dr Talati has an initial fundraising target of £50,000.


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