Salem Hospital told to pay Rs. 5L for negligence

COIMBATORE: Nine years after a man died due to alleged medical negligence, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) in Chennai directed a private hospital in Salem to pay `5 lakh compensation to his family members.Venkataraman (52) died in March 2003 due to complications arising out of botched up surgeries by doctors at the Kirupa Hospital on Rajaji Road in Salem.The victim’s wife Lalitha, a Chennai resident, son V Ramachandran and minor daughter V Priyanka had moved the SCDRC seeking `25 lakh compensation as they had lost the breadwinner of the family.Complainants submitted that in October 2002, Venkataraman, who had previously undergone a surgery for appendicitis elsewhere, was taken to Kiruba Hospital for treatment for abdominal pain. While clinical tests and an ultrasound showed that his condition was normal, a radiologist had hinted at the possibility of appendicitis.The following month he was operated upon for appendicitis. However, post-surgery, one Dr Thilak Kiruba had informed that no appendicitis was detected.Subsequently, as the patient became ill with respiratory problems, abdominal pain and dehydration, the doctor advised another surgery to drain collected fluids. A surgical opening on the patient’s chest and two openings in his small intestine remained unhealed for weeks, making him weak. In one week, Dr Thilak and another doctor C T Kiruba had tried five times to insert a food pipe on the left side of Venkataraman’s abdomen and kept it for 26 days leading to formation of puss and infection. Three more surgeries were performed, but his condition did not improve. Later, the hospital discharged the patient after collecting `55,000.Venkataraman was then admitted to Malar Hospital in Chennai and subsequently at the Government Stanley Hospital. In March 2003, he died.Denying all charges, Dr Kiruba and Dr Thilak said all established norms were followed during surgery and alleged that the complaint was filed to blackmail and extract money.Rejecting the contention, SCDRC president M Thanikachalam and members A K Annamalai and S Sambandam held that the doctors were negligent in the initial stage, when they failed to take cognizance of the patient’s medical history. “As prudent doctors, when there is a possibility of adhesion in a patient, who had undergone a (appendicitis) surgery, they should have taken steps at the initial stage itself, for laparatomy, instead of laparoscopy,” the SCDRC said in its order.The Commission also faulted the doctors for not referring the patient to a gastroenterologist, since they (doctors) were not experts in the field and directed them to pay the complainants `5 lakh within two months,  including `3 lakh for mental agony and `5,000 as costs.