National commission upholds order against Mohali hospital for negligence
Gaurav Kanthwal
Mohali, June 12
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has upheld an order passed by the Punjab State Commission directing Max Hospital at Phase 6 in Mohali and three doctors to pay Rs 25 lakh compensation with 8 per cent interest to the family of Subedar (retd) Sham Singh of Sector 71 for medical negligence leading to the death of his wife Salwinder Kaur in 2014. Two appeals were filed in challenge to the order dated February 27, 2019, passed by the Punjab State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The state commission had passed orders after Sham Singh said he had brought his wife, Salwinder Kaur, to the hospital for a check-up regarding a knee problem on August 11, 2014. He said his wife was admitted to the hospital on August 19, 2014, and the doctors at the hospital had conducted X-rays and tests of her chest and heart. He said the doctors at the hospital carried out his wife’s operation before the arrival of reports of the tests, adding that the patient’s condition deteriorated the next day of the operation, and she was admitted to the ICU, where she remained on ventilators from August 25 to September 8. Sham Singh said his wife was discharged from the hospital on September 10; however, her condition deteriorated on September 11, and the hospital authorities refused to admit her again. As a result, she was taken to a hospital in Sohana, where she died on October 1.
The NCDRC Bench 31 upheld the state commission’s order: “We are of the view that the standard of care for a high-risk patient at the pre-operative stage was not provided, as also noted by the medical board. Further, when she was brought back in a critical condition, the hospital should have admitted her and acted as per medical protocol. The lack of standard of care provided on both occasions in one operation constitutes medical negligence on the part of the hospital, the doctors, and the senior cardiologist,” the order read.
A spokesperson from Max Hospital said, “We are yet to receive a certified copy of the order and will not be able to comment until our legal team has gone through the same.”
