Medical negligence: Woman who lost son to get Rs2.6 lakh

A woman distressed due to the death of her son Aditya, 9, after a Navi Mumbai doctor administered excess dosage of Reziz 13 years ago, will have to do with the meagre Rs2.6 lakh compensation awarded by the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission.

The commission has directed  Dr VC Bendale  to pay the compensation with 7% interest since the day Aditya’s mother Leela Veerajaneyulu, who lives in Junagad, Gujarat, filed the claim suit.

When Aditya developed fever in September 1997, his mother took him to Bendale at her clinic in Navi Mumbai. The doctor examined him and gave some medicines, which seemed to give him relief.

But after a few days, he complained of uneasiness and eye sore. He was again taken to Bendale.

She administered Pyrimon — eye drops — and gave him tablets. But Aditya continued to suffer as he had developed rashes on his body too. Bendale prescribed Reziz, saying he had malaria. When Aditya continued to suffer more, Bendale recommended that he be examined by a child specialist who diagnosed the disease as Stevens Johnson Syndrome, a state caused due to excess dose of medicines.   

When Leela informed Bendale that her son had been administered excess doses of medicines and that the pediatrician had given ante dose, the doctor stuck to her prescription. She didn’t accept the child specialist’s diagnosis.

The specialist had referred Aditya to a better hospital for treatment. He was taken to the naval hospital where he died after a prolonged illness.

While the district consumer forum rejected the mother’s suit for compensation, state commission ordered Rs2.6 lakh in compensation to the mother. Bendale challenged the order to the national commission which rejected her appeal and upheld the mother’s claim.