For failing to diagnose the actual illness of a three-year-old girl for nearly eleven months — who was later found to be suffering from a malignant tumor in her abdomen — the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chandigarh, has directed two private child care clinics in Chandigarh and Mohali, along with their doctors, to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the victim for medical negligence.
The child’s father, in his complaint, mentioned that his daughter began suffering from severe abdominal pain, weakness, vomiting, nausea, constipation, and a persistent dry cough in December 2017. Concerned, he took her to the Child Care Centre (Morning Clinic) in Chandigarh, where the doctors kept prescribing medicines one after another without ordering any diagnostic or blood tests — despite the child’s continuing pain and deteriorating condition.
According to the complaint, the child remained under treatment at the clinic from December 29, 2017, to December 3, 2018, yet no diagnosis was made during this period. The father stated that despite regular visits and evident symptoms, the doctor failed to identify the underlying disease.
When the child failed to improve, her father approached Dr Pandove’s Family Clinic, in Mohali, on December 20, 2018, with complaints of dry cough, irritability, constipation, nausea, vomiting, and acute abdominal pain. The doctor at this clinic was informed about the previous treatment and was aware that the child had been unwell since December 2017. However, no diagnostic tests were recommended initially, and the clinic too continued to prescribe medicines, the complainant alleged.
It was only in February 2019, after the child’s condition worsened further, that the doctor at Dr Pandove’s Family Clinic advised an abdominal ultrasound. The test revealed a possible tumour in the stomach, which, as per the complainant, was in a critical state and could have ruptured at any time. The child was then referred to the PGIMER, Chandigarh, where she was diagnosed with a Teratoma Malignant Germ Cell Tumour and has since been undergoing treatment.