Tamil Nadu State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed a doctor and an anesthesiologist of a Vadapalani-based private hospital to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family of a 38-year-old woman who allegedly suffered brain death after being treated for nasal congestion due to a medical negligence 20 years ago.
The commission held three persons, namely a doctor, a surgeon and an anesthesiologist responsible for the medical negligence. As one of the doctors has died, the surgeon and anesthesiologist have been asked to pay compensation of Rs 10 lakh and Rs 50,000 as legal expenses to the deceased's husband and three daughters within eight weeks.
Devendram, wife of Bhojaiah, a BHEL employee from Thiruvanmiyur in Chennai, went to Dr Rangara of the C Satyanarayana Ear, Nose and Throat Research Institute at Vadapalani Vijaya Hospital in 2005 for treatment after suffering from nasal congestion and headache.
On the advice of the medical team, Devendra was taken for an endoscopy and then shifted to the ICU, where she was declared brain dead and suffered a heart failure. Doctors said she died while on a ventilator on October 12, 2005.
After this, Bhojaiah filed a case with the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission seeking a compensation of Rs 1 crore from Vijaya Hospital, surgeons and anesthesiologist for their negligence and deficient medical services, which he claimed led to his wife's death.
During the hearing before the commission's chairman, Justice R Subbaiah, advocate Thenmozhi Sivaperumal, representing petitioner Bojayiah, said, "Devendra was admitted without conducting basic tests, without considering her low haemoglobin level and high blood sugar level and anesthesia was given without following the requite time gap after breakfast, resulting in brain death."
Sivaperumal argued that the petitioner lost his wife because the hospital administration did not provide proper treatment and alleged that it is doubtful that she was transferred to the ICU after her death post treatment.
However, Vijaya Hospital stated that doctors use medical consultation rooms and since there is no employer-employee system here, concerned consultant can be held responsible for any problem related to the treatment they provide.
Doctors who treated her justified saying, the patient came here for treatment after being treated by many doctors for severe headache and sinusitis and when steroids did not help. They said it was not a case of medical negligence. They explained that the patient died due to swelling in the brain vein and bleeding from a brain tumor.
In its order, commission chairman Justice R Subbaiah observed that the procedure that anesthesia should be administered after six hours after breakfast was not followed.
"The doctors did not consider the processes of patient's ailments. They forgot the negative effects of the patient's sugar level before starting the surgery and low haemoglobin," the commission chairman stated.
"Since it is confirmed that the cause of death was the negligence of the doctors, and as there was no employer-employee relationship with the hospital, the doctors were responsible for Devendra's death. At the same time, it has been noted that the petitioner has failed to mention the treatment he received for the illness, which had been ongoing for more than a year.
"Since Dr Ranga Rao, one of the doctors who treated her, has died, surgeon, M Jayaramy Reddy, and anesthesiologist, A Krishnamurthy, must pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation and Rs 50,000 as legal expenses to the petitioner Bojaiah and his three daughters within eight weeks" the commission ordered.