CHENNAI: Five years after a woman faced prolonged illness due to a faulty treatment, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Chengalpattu, directed the hospital to pay her a compensation of `2 lakh for negligence during blood transfusion that resulted in kidney problems.
According to petition submitted by R Joyce of Melkottaiyur, on August 28, 2014, she underwent blood transfusion at Sri Meenakshi Nursing Home at Kandigai near Korattur, as suggested by doctors to alleviate pain in her breasts. She paid Rs 11,500 for the treatment. As there was something wrong with the transfusion, it was done for the second time at the nursing home’s own clinic at Perungalathur the next day.
She alleged that owing to the faulty transfusions and to the wrong diagnosis by the doctor, she developed kidney problems. Unable to bear the pain she was admitted to a private hospital in Tambaram, where surgery was performed on September 2, 2014 and she was discharged on September 18. After sending a legal notice to Sri Meenakshi Nursing Home, she filed a petition in the consumer disputes redressal forum, seeking a compensation of Rs 4.5 lakh. Denying the allegations, the hospital counsel said that proper treatment was given to the patient who was present in there only for a few hours.
The forum, presided over by J Justin David and comprising members K Prameela and D Babu Varadharajan, observed that if the complainant had already had kidney problems, the hospital might have recorded the fact in the medical records while discharging her.