Jagannath Zhagde, 70, who lost his 20-year old son Minesh in 2002 after a doctor allegedly injected him with an infected syringe and needle, was awarded Rs 4 lakhs compensation by a consumer forum recently from the two doctors who examined him.
On June 21, a bench of judge Suman Mahajan and member G L Chavan held that ‘not giving forceful advice when the patient is so critical that he needs to be taken to the hospital immediately and some tests need to be done’ amounts to medical negligence. The two doctors who denied the charges, were also asked to give Rs 5,000 by way of costs towards litigation.
In 2002, on account of Minesh’s high fever, his brother Vilas took him to Dr J J Kini, who administered medicine. When Minesh’s fever refused to subside, Vilas took him to Dr K G Davli since Kini’s clinic was closed. Vilas allegedly saw Dalvi dropping the syringe and needle on the floor before he injected his brother.
Despite Minesh’s condition dipping steadily, both doctors allegedly didn’t stress on the need for Minesh to be admitted to a hospital.
The next day, on being taken to Harkishandas Hospital, they were told that Minesh was too weak to be operated upon. He was then taken to Nair Hospital, where he died on August 6, 2002.
Postmortem reports said that he died an “unnatural” death due to chest blood clot and septicemia. Minesh’s family approached the Association for Consumers Action on Safety and Health (ACASH) who helped them file a complaint in the consumer forum.
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