Doctor held guilty of medical negligence during knee replacement surgery

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Chandigarh, March 9

Holding a doctor guilty of medical negligence, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chandigarh, has directed Dr Vineet Sharma, M/s Advance Hip & Knee Clinic, Sector 47-D, Chandigarh, to pay a compensation of Rs 3 lakh to a consumer for causing her mental, physical harassment and financial loss and a litigation cost of Rs 20,000.

Anu Bala, a resident of Zirakpur, in her complaint filed before the commission, said she visited Dr Vineet Sharma on September 1, 2020 following pain in her right and left knees. After check-up, the doctor told the woman that her both knees would be replaced at a cost of Rs 2,70,000.

She claimed that the OP (doctor) assured her that after the replacement of both knees, she would have no pain. As such, she agreed and paid an amount of Rs 2,70,000.

She was operated upon by the doctor at a hospital in Mohali on September 3 and discharged on September 7. The woman said she started having problems in her left knee from Day 1 of the operation. On the doctor’s advice, she purchased a gym cycle and did exercise, but did not get any relief. She, along with her husband, also visited the clinic of the OP several times.

The doctor told her that the operation was successful and she would get relief in pain with the help of medicines. She alleged that she was having continuous pain in her left knee. The doctor did not take it seriously and again advised her to do exercise, go up & down the stairs two to three times a day and take advice from another expert.

She went to another hospital. In their opinion, the left leg seems to be curved to the left side little bit. She was advised for Doppler test and blood tests. In the second opinion, it was confirmed that there was some mistake from the doctor’s end in planting metal joint in her left knee.

The doctor denied the charges and claimed that the operation was conducted as per the settled practice and both knees were replaced completely. The patient was discharged after being kept in observation for four days without any complications and was advised physiotherapy and follow-ups. The patient followed up till May 2021. At that time, she was walking comfortably.

The patient was advised to do exercises on a regular basis to adjust the external fixture. There was initial discomfort in some patients, but that gradually goes with time.

After hearing the arguments, the commission comprising of Amrinder Singh Sidhu, president, and Priti Malhotra, member, said after having gone through evidence and considering the arguments it transpires that the doctor had failed to perform his duty well, which was required to be taken care of while performing the operation knowing well that the complainant was a patient of rheumatoid arthritis. In view of this, the doctor was found to be deficient/negligent in providing due services, which resultantly caused physical and mental harassment to the complainant and landed her up into the situation where she had no other option but to undergo for revision surgery to get the deformity set right, which was developed after the operation being conducted by the OP doctor.

The commission directed the OP to pay a compensation of Rs 3 lakh to the complainant, along with a litigation cost of Rs 20,000.