DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission recently upheld an order of a district commission directing the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh, to pay Rs 60,000 to a man for “wrongly declaring” him as HIV positive. The amount includes Rs 50,000 as compensation for mental agony and harassment and Rs 10,000 towards litigation expenses.
The Commission has dismissed AIIMS Rishikesh's appeal against a 2019 order of the Haridwar District Consumer Commission directing it to pay compensation to a patient after recording the patient as HIV-positive without supporting clinical evidence.
In its August 17 order, Commission President Kumkum Rani and member C.M. Singh said HIV is a sensitive medical condition and an unverified diagnosis can have serious consequences for a patient.
“HIV is a serious medical condition, and its diagnosis requires utmost caution and strict adherence to standard protocols,” the commission observed.
The case dates back to July 2014, when the patient was admitted to AIIMS Rishikesh after being referred from another medical facility. During treatment, “HIV-positive” was allegedly entered repeatedly in the patient's medical records, including the discharge summary.
The patient later underwent tests at Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences and Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital in Dehradun. Both reports found the patient HIV-negative and were submitted before the consumer commission.
AIIMS argued that it did not have an Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) at the time and had neither conducted an HIV test nor officially declared the patient HIV-positive.
The state commission, however, said AIIMS' own records contradicted this claim. It noted that the discharge summary and treatment records repeatedly described the patient as HIV-positive, but the institute failed to show that the diagnosis was based on a valid test.
“Recording a person as HIV-positive in official medical records without supporting clinical evidence amounts to serious negligence,” the commission said.
It added that such an unverified diagnosis could cause mental suffering, emotional distress and social stigma, besides undermining trust in medical institutions.
Finding no reason to interfere with the district commission's order, the state commission dismissed AIIMS Rishikesh's appeal and upheld the compensation awarded to the patient.