Consumer Court Orders Hospital to pay Rs 18.12 Lakh as Compensation for Medical Negligence

Consumer Court Orders Hospital to pay Rs 18.12 Lakh as Compensation for Medical Negligence

• Consumer Court Orders Hospital in Bantwal to pay Rs 18.12 Lakh as Compensation for Docs Medical Negligence in the death of a Pregnant Woman and Her Unborn Child on 7 February 2014. Four years later, after a case was filed against the doctors and hospital responsible for these two deaths in Consumers Court at Mangaluru, a verdict was passed by the Court to pay Rs 18.12 lakh as compensation for the deaths caused by medical negligence.

Mangaluru: Medical negligence by doctors at a private hospital in B C Road-Bantwal had claimed the life of a pregnant woman and her newborn child on 7 February 2014. Recalling the incident, on 7 February 2014 Chanchalakshi, aged 29, wife of Naveen Kumar M, a resident of government employees’ colony at BC Road, was admitted at a private Hospital, located on B C Road, Jodumarg-Bantwal to deliver her second child. On her arrival, the doctors at the hospital gave her an injection to induce labour pain, but she developed complications and died, and the baby also died in her womb.

When the news spread in town, the locals had gathered and protested until the police made arrests of the doctors involved in this medical negligence- so after few hours due to pressure of the protesters the police had arrested the doctors later in the day. As per a complaint filed by Naveen, the husband of Chanchalakshi, and also by her son, Aditya, Chanchalakshi was healthy until the doctors gave her the labour painkilling pills, after which she developed all complications- therefore the doctors insisted that Chanchalakshi be shifted to a hospital in Mangaluru- and during shifting the unborn baby died, and his wife died later. At her time of death, Chanchalakshi was an employee at Mescom, a mother of a six-year-old boy, and was pregnant with her second child.

Naveen alleged in the complaint that the medical staff and doctors at the hospital were responsible for the deaths of the mother and the baby, and also that the Bantwal police were not cooperative he decided to approach the consumers Court. Now after four years, the Consumers Court at Mangaluru has ordered payment of compensation amounting to Rs 18.12 lakh for the death of this pregnant woman and her unborn child, due to medical negligence of doctors and the hospital. It is also learnt that the doctor who was treating her didn’t come in time, and after giving her the injection late evening she developed all complications.

Naveen was represented by Advocate Udayananda A of Mangaluru, and finally, after four years the Consumers Court has given an order to pay Rs 18.12 lakh as compensation.