Maharashtra : Nanavati Hospital, doctor held guilty for medical negligence  

Mumbai: The State Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum on November 16^th has given its verdict on a fourteen year old case, asking the reputed Nanavati Hospital and the doctor Dr Mukesh Desai, alleged of medical negligence, to pay Rs. 11.5 lakh jointly to the father of a deceased child.

The case goes back to the year 2000, when a three year old girl was admitted to the hospital with complaints of high fever. She was referred to Dr Mukesh Desai, who upon Medical investigations, diagnosed her as a case of Leukemia (blood cancer). Chemotherapy was also started to be administered on the baby after the diagnosis.

During the chemotherapy process, administering the left arm, the canal needle allegedly went out of the vein, thus rupturing it, due to which the medicines that were descended in through intravenous path as prescribed by the doctor, accumulated in one place inside the skin. It was alleged by Pujari that this caused tremendous pain and sorrow to the Child and a big black spot was formed at the left elbow. The hands were tied to the wooden Pad .Bandage applied remained for the 7 days.

Further as the child kept complaining of pain in her left arm and a black spot was also visible in the arm, she was referred to Dr Ketan Parikh, who immediately diagnosed that it was a case of Gangrene and decided to operate it before it could spread more in other parts of the body and hand. Hospital stay was prolonged for 3 months as Left elbow Ulna bone was also infected.

Alleging the hospital of negligence, the family of the patient, filed a case with the forum demanding compensation for causing pain and permanent deformity of the Child. It is further reported that during the pendency of the case, the child died in the year 2002, during the pendency of the case.

The court observed

"It was the duty of the duo to take standard medical care in accordance with the accepted protocols, particularly when the ailment of cancer was detected and it was curable according to medical science. There is no reliable or acceptable evidence before us to indicate that the ailment suffered by the child was incurable. It was onus upon the duo to prove that the appropriate standard of care was taken to administer the appropriate medicines by adopting a standard protocol while the child was treated while administering the Chemotherapy to the child,"

The court finding the doctor as well as the hospital guilty noted

In the facts and circumstances of the case therefore we find that the there was deficiency in service on the part of the Opposite Parties, not to take precautions for effectively treat the child Vishakha at the hands of the best qualified professional Doctors in the field . We therefore hold the Opposite party jointly and severally liable to pay compensation for medical negligence towards the Child Vishakha who succumbed ultimately as a result of the injury-gangrene caused due to medical negligence towards her during administration of Chemotherapy while she was treated in Nanavati Hospital.

The doctor as well as the hospital were therefore held liable jointly and severally to pay sum of Rs 500,000/- [Rupees Five Lakh only] – payable with interest at the rate of Rs 9 % per annum payable from the date of the Complaint till realization.  Litigation cost was  fixed at Rs 25000/- [Rupees Twenty Five Thousand only].

You can read the full judgement below