Minor dies during nasal surgery: Consumer Court issues notice to Chennai hospital, ENT specialist, Anaesthetist in Rs 7 crore negligence case

Kolkata: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DCDRC), Kolkata (Unit 1), has issued notices to a Chennai-based senior ENT specialist, Anesthetist, and the Hospital in a Rs 7.02 Crore negligence case. 

It has been alleged that while undergoing a minor nasal surgery at the Chennai-based ENT hospital, the boy died on the OT table due to “Malignant hyperthermia (MH)” allegedly from a drug reaction. 

The deceased patient's mother, complainant, filed a compensation case claiming damages of Rs 7.02 crore against the Chennai doctors/hospital, the President of the People for Better Treatment (PBT), which helped the complainant in the legal battle, mentioned in a Press Release.

"Unfortunately, the parents never saw their child alive after he was taken to the out­patient OT for the minor nasal surgery in the morning of 13th June, 2024. While MH may emerge as a serious medical condition on extremely rare occasions as an adverse reaction to a drug, no patient should die on the OT table from this condition if proper corrective treatment is promptly given particularly with Dantrolene sodium, a well­known specific antidote to MH which is a lifesaver in patients afflicted with MH. Unfortunately, the *** ENT hospital/doctors were clearly ignorant about MH as they did not even try to use Dantrolene sodium to save the life of this promising young student and only child of a ravaged loving parent," the release by PBT stated.

"Countless ordinary people and defenseless patients are falling prey every day, both financially and medically, in the hands of the highly influential and “untouchable” doctors/hospitals across India. Members of the “medical council”, main regulatory authority of doctors, also keep blind eyes to the rampant incidence of medical negligence and unethical practice by their medical colleagues causing more and more loss of innocent human lives like the 16­year old *** and leaving behind countless weeping parents like Mrs. *** for rest of their life in this world. PBT will stay with this grieving mother (and other victims of “medical negligence”) in the fight for her departed son until all of the greedy and reckless doctors at the *** ENT Hospital who were responsible for this death are brought to equitable justice," it further added.

Taking note of the complaint, the District Consumer Court issued notice and fixed 14th August, 2026 for the Chennai doctors/hospital to appear and respond to the serious charges of “medical negligence” and “deceptive trade practice” raised in the consumer complaint.

Case Details: 

The patient, a high school student, had no pre-existing or co-morbid medical condition except a "deviated nasal septum" (DNS), which is a innocuous and non-serious medical condition, most of the patients with DNS require no specific treatment or treated only with over-the-counter medicines like antihistamines or nasal steroid sprays.

Some of the patients having DNS may have minor problems with snoring, nasal stuffiness or occasional sinutitis etc., for which minor nasal out-patient surgery to fix the deviated nasal septum can also be performed.

Even though the treatment for DNS was also available in Kolkata, the parents of the deceased took him to Chennai for the treatment to be done at a specialized ENT hospital, allegedly lured by an online advertisement.

After examining the patient, the treating doctor, a senior ENT surgeon, allegedly gave assurance to the complainant that the problem of the DNS would be totally cured with a simple and short nasal surgery in the outpatient clinic next day and the patient would be discharged on the very same day after weaning the effects of the anaesthesia.

For the surgery, the doctor recommended some pre-surgical routine blood tests and scheduled the nasal surgery for the next day. In the prescription, it was noted that the patient had a final diagnosis of “Deviated nasal septum with Sinusitis” and was scheduled for “septo FESS (functional endoscopic sinus surgery) under GA (general anaesthesia)” to be done on 13/06/2024.

Accordingly, the patient was admitted to the hospital in the morning and as per the Anaesthetic Record Sheet, the patient, after being taken to the OT on 7:15 AM, maintained normal blood pressure (BP) until 8:45 AM during anaesthesia. After this, there was allegedly a precipitous drop in BP, and the heart rate record also indicated that the patient was having a cardiac arrest soon after the anaesthesia started.

Although some medicines and CPR were attempted over the next hour, the patient was declared dead at 11:15 AM and the cause of death was recorded as “Malignant Hyperthermia due to succinyl choline".

It was submitted that even though "Malignant Hyperthermia" (MH) is a rare hypermetabolis potentially life-threatening condition in response to some inhalation agents and muscle relaxants including “succinyl choline” that are routinely used during general anaesthesia before surgery, progress in medical science over the past 30 years has made death from MH as a reaction to drugs for general anaesthesia has become a thing of the past.

In support of her argument, the complainant submitted relevant medical literature showing that with the progress in understanding of the pathophysiology of MH, death rate from MH has dropped from over 80% in the 1970s to less than 5% in 2007.

Referring to the 12 steps recommended for proper medical management of patients with acute MH crisis, the complainant alleged that none of these steps was followed by the treating doctors and hospital, which was clear from the medical records. It was also submitted that Dantrolene sodium, a known antidote and specific antagonist to the acutely harmful pathophysiologic changes of MH and which is also well known to reverse the harmful signs of MH, particularly drug-induced MH, was never used to save the life of the dying patient. Another allegation in the complaint was the doctors and the hospital's failure to provide complete medical records.

"...the loss of any human life cannot be compensated in terms of money but death of a 16-year old child with a brilliant future ahead in front of the devastated parents due to gross medical failure must be given equitable solatium and they are entitled to recover the financial and other losses from the OPs herein as stipulated in the landmark Apex Court judgment in Balaram Prasad vs. Kunal Saha & Ors. (2014 SCC 1, 384) where the Supreme Court of India has categorically held that “just compensation” must be paid by the guilty doctors/hospital in cases of “medical negligence” including both pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages with due consideration to interest, inflation and punitive damages," submitted the complaint.

Taking note of the matter, and perusing the documents filed by the complainant, the Consumer Court observed, "This case is well within the territorial and pecuniary jurisdiction of this Commission. Having heard the submission of the complainant and after considering the petition of complaint and photo copies of the documents, prima facie case is made out against the opposite parties. Hence, the complaint case stands admitted provisionally. Issue notice upon the opposite party/parties. Fix 14/08/2026 for S/R and appearance. Complainant to submit requisite at once."

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