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Medical negligence: Father compensated for
daughter's death
Wednesday April 10, 2013 10:03:09 AM,
Rahul Chhabara,
IANS
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New Delhi: The
father of a pregnant woman, who died after a negligent doctor
treated her for cancer that she did not suffer from, has been
awarded compensation of Rs.5 lakh by the apex consumer court.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission held
Chennai-based doctor Kurien Joseph and Joseph Nursing Home in the
city guilty of medical negligence and upheld the Tamil Nadu
Consumer Commission's decision that "there was medical negligence
on their part in giving wrong and irrational medical treatment to
the patient for a disease which she did not have".
"The rounds of chemotherapy given to her caused untold damage to
her and were also responsible for her death," said commission
president Ashok Bhan and member Vineeta Rai recently, dismissing
an appeal filed by the doctor and the nursing home.
Joseph and the nursing home were directed to pay by June 2 a sum
of Rs.5 lakh as compensation to victim G. Ushanandhini's father
Govindarajan, failing which the amount would carry an interest of
9 percent per annum, together with Rs.3,000 as costs, the
commission said.
The doctor and the nursing home have the option of challenging the
decision in the Supreme Court.
Govindarajan, a resident of Jothi Ramalingam Nagar in Perambakkam,
sought compensation of Rs.10 lakh in his complaint, which stated
that the cancer treatment given to his daughter was not correct
since she was not suffering from the disease. Ushanandhini was
admitted with complaints of stomach pain and menstural discharge
despite being pregnant.
The commission held the doctor and the nursing home guilty of
ignoring a pathologist's advice to conduct tests for cancer before
starting the treatment.
"Despite specific advice of the pathologist to correlate the
provisional finding of carcinoma with the clinical picture and
conduct biological test in dilutions of the patient, the
appellants failed to heed this and did not conduct the required
tests nor did they consult an oncologist or get biopsy done, which
is the common procedure undertaken in cases of suspected cancer of
this nature involving mass in the abdomen and growths," Bhan said.
The doctor and the nursing home took the defence that there were
important and more than adequate indicators to confirm that the
patient had cancer and that there was no need for other tests,
including biopsy, which could have caused her further damage.
The commission rejected the contention and said: "We are unable to
accept this contention of the appellants.No medical report has
been produced to conclude that Ushanandhini was suffering from
cancer."
The doctor, not having conclusively established that the deceased
was suffering from cancer, should have realised that chemotherapy
was ill-advised on the patient. "We, therefore, hold that the
opposite parties had been negligent in treating the patient and
this had been the cause for the death of the patient," the
judgment said.
"We note that appellants had deposited a sum of Rs.2.50 lakh with
the state commission, vide this commission's order of Feb 5, 2008.
In that case, this amount be released to Govindarajan with
interest accrued thereon and appellants are directed to pay the
remaining amount as directed above," Bhan said.
(Rahul Chhabara can be
contacted at rahul.c@ians.in)
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