Indraprastha Apollo, has been directed by a consumer forum to pay around Rs eight lakh compensation to a man whose fractured hand could not be fixed due to "gross medical negligence".
NEW DELHI: The capital's premier private hospital, Indraprastha Apollo, has been directed by a consumer forum to pay around Rs eight lakh compensation to a man whose fractured hand could not be fixed due to "gross medical negligence".
"There is gross medical negligence on the part of the hospital, in as much as the doctor was negligent in operating the complainant's son as his fracture was not united and despite that he was discharged from hospital," V K Gupta, President of South Delhi District Consumer Forum, said.
Terming the hospital's defence as "feeble", the forum rejected the plea that compensation should have been claimed in a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) as the alleged victim had come after getting injured in a road accident.
"It is a feeble attempt by the hospital that it is incumbent on the part of the complainant (patient) to claim the amount from mediclaim policy and MACT," it said, making it clear that the victim can choose the forum.
The forum, which also comprised member S R Agrawal, held the hospital and its orthopaedic surgeon jointly liable for the immobility of Mukesh K Rathor's son, who underwent bone fixing surgery at the hospital and asked them to pay Rs 7,75,000 in a month.
Rathor's son, after being injured in an accident, was admitted in the hospital on August two, 2006 after being administered first aid in a government hospital in Pathankot, Punjab.
He was advised to undergo the surgery to fix the fracture and after the operation, he was discharged with a remark that he was in a stable condition.
However, to his utter shock, his pain persisted and he was forced to take another specialist opinion, the complaint said.
After examining fresh X-ray reports, another senior orthopaedic surgeon opined that his bone remained dislocated.
Consequently, he was again operated for which he had to shell out a huge amount, it added.
The forum calculated the amount of compensation after taking into account the amount spent by the patient in the hospital, the expenses incurred for and after another surgery, the business loss and the travel expenses during the period.
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