New Delhi: The city's
top consumer court has asked a doctor to pay Rs.5 lakh
compensation to a woman whose abortion he botched up not once but
twice in 1997, leading to severe medical complications and her
uterus being removed.
Kusum Pahwa, a resident of west Delhi, alleged that she not only
suffered mental agony due to the medical negligence in the MTP
(medical termination of pregnancy) operation and the follow-up
procedure in 1997, causing complications and forcing the removal
of her uterus -- putting an end to her hopes of becoming a mother.
Responding to her complaint, the Delhi State Consumer Disputes and
Redressal Commission in a recent ruling held Dr. R.R. Rana, who
carried out the procedures, guilty of medical negligence.
"The complainant suffered prolonged illness agony and pain and she
must therefore adequately be compensated for the same," said
commission president Barkat Ali Zaidi.
"The opposite party (OP) No.1 (Rana) will therefore pay to the
complainant a sum of Rs.500,000 in all towards compensation,
including her treatment expenditure, besides Rs.10,000 as costs of
litigation," Zaidi said in his ruling, a copy of which is
available with IANS.
Rana in his defence denied any negligence or deficiency on his
part and said the complaint was false, frivolous and exaggerated
and deserved to be dismissed. But the commission rejected the
plea.
The doctor now has time till Dec 19 to pay Pahwa Rs.5.10 lakh. As
a legal remedy, he can appeal against the verdict in the National
Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
Holding Rana guilty of negligence, the commission said "the foetus
was 13 weeks old when the MTP was done by Dr.Rana, alone, at
Rajdhani Nursing Home (in Shahdara in east Delhi), a private
nursing home".
"There was as such violation of provisions of section 3 and 4 of
MTP Act 1971, not only because the termination of pregnancy was
done in a private nursing home by OP No.1 (Rana) but also because
there was no other doctor beside him as provided in section
3(2)(b) of the MTP Act 1971," said Zaidi.
"The violation of provisions of MTP Act makes Rana prima facie
responsible for negligence and we need nothing more to hold him
negligent," said the commission.
Pahwa said in her complaint that she had approached Rana for an
MTP on Jan 7, 1997. After an examination, the doctor 'terminated
her pregnancy' at his Munpee Clinic in east Delhi's Dilshad Garden
and prescribed her some medicine.
But she continued to feel uneasy and suffered from pain even a
month later. An ultrasound disclosed the shocking truth -- she was
carrying a 13-week foetus.
Pahwa complained to Rana, who allegedly apologised and offered to
conduct the MTP again at the Rajdhani Nursing Home.
On his advice, she got admitted to Rajdhani Nursing Home where the
second MTP was conducted by Rana Feb 6, 1997, her complaint said.
The complaint said even the second round of MTP was performed
negligently, resulting in injury to the lower part of her
intestine and a hole in her uterus - the organ had to be removed
at a government hospital.
Pahwa alleged negligence and deficiency on the part of the doctor
and initially sought a compensation of Rs.2 lakh for loss and
damage, including Rs.1 lakh towards expenses incurred by her. She
later amended her plea and claimed Rs.20 lakh compensation along
with interest.
(Rahul Chhabra can be contacted at rahul.c@ians.in)
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