NCDRC orders Fortis hospital, doctor to pay ₹65 lakh compensation for negligence, 'unnecessary' surgery

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) recently ordered the Fortis Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, Delhi and the head of its cardiac department to pay ₹65 lakhs as compensation to the family of a 62-year-old man who was left partially paralysed after an elective angioplasty..By an August 7 ruling, Presiding member, Justice Ram Surat Ram Maurya and Technical member Bharat Kumar Pandya found merit in claims by the patient's family that the angioplasty (a medical procedure to open blocked arteries, veins etc.) was unnecessarily conducted."It is proved that OP-2 (cardiac doctor) had ignored the lungs condition of the patient and proceeded for angioplasty although the patient was co-morbid and angioplasty was elective and not compulsory at that time. They cannot shirk their responsibility by saying that the patient and his daughter were doctors and they had given their informed consent, knowing well the risks and benefits,” the order said in this regard.The forum found that due to negligence, the patient was left with permanent brain injury and in a coma for a while.Even after coming out of the coma, he suffered complete paralysis on his left side and lost his ability to speak, hear or understand other people and was left in a vegetative state, the NCDRC was told.The national consumer complaints forum held the hospital as well as the cardiac doctor, Dr Ashok Seth, jointly and severally liable for the patient's condition and ordered them to pay ₹65 lakhs as compensation. .The order was passed on a complaint filed in 2012 by the patient's wife.She alleged that Dr Ashok Seth and his team unnecessarily conducted an angioplasty on her husband and also committed gross negligence during the procedure. The hospital countered that the patient and his elder daughter were doctors themselves and were aware of the risks, benefits and repercussions of angioplasty. The hospital added that they not only gave informed consent for the angioplasty but also insisted that it be conducted on the same day that they came to consult the doctor. The claims of medical negligence were also denied. .After analyzing the case records and submissions, the NCDRC ruled in the complainant's favour.The hospital and its doctor were ordered to pay ₹65 lakhs as compensation after factoring in the monthly income that the patient used to earn before his health crisis, hospital expenses, travel expenses, nursing care expenses, loss of consortium for the patient's family, pain and suffering and litigation costs. .Advocates Pravin Bahadur, Mohit K Mudgal, Sachin Dubey and Saurabh Kumar appeared for the complainant.Senior Advocate Joy Basu and advocates Arjun Dewan, Akash Arora and Anoop George represented the hospital and its doctors..[Read Order]