Indian-origin man tries to sue Australian hospital for over Rs 5,000 crore after watching wife's C-section

IANS

Melbourne, September 19

An Indian-origin man tried to sue a hospital in Australia for $643 million (over Rs 5,000 crore) after watching his wife deliver a baby via cesarean-section birth in 2018, which was dismissed by a court.

Anil Koppula said the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne "encouraged" or "permitted" him to observe the delivery, which caused him "psychotic illness" after he watched his wife's organs and blood, Australia's 7News channel reported.

Years after the wife delivered a healthy baby, Koppula lodged a claim in the Supreme Court of Victoria in October last year, alleging the hospital breached its duty of care it owed to him and was liable to pay him damages.

Representing himself during proceedings, he assessed his damages for psychological injury at $643 million, and submitted to the court the illness had led to the "breakdown of his marriage".

In a judgement handed down on Monday, Justice James Gorton dismissed the claim, labelling it an "abuse of process".

The judgement stated that the law does not allow a person to recover damages for non-economic loss unless their injury is a "significant injury".

A panel that medically examined Koppula said that "the degree of psychiatric impairment resulting from the injury to the claimant alleged in the claim does not satisfy the threshold level".

Koppula disagreed with the findings, but did not apply for a review of the determination, the news channel reported.

The Royal Women's Hospital admitted it owed Koppula a duty of care but denied that it breached it.

Rejecting claims that he suffered any injury, the hospital then applied for the proceedings to be dismissed.

A cesarean-section (C-section) is the surgical delivery of a baby through an incision made in the mother's abdomen and uterus, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

An abnormal fetal position or heart rate, labour problems, infections are some of the several medical reasons for performing the surgical procedure.

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