BENGALURU: The Karnataka State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered two surgeons and an anaesthetist of Fortis Hospital, Seshadripuram, to pay `23.54 lakh as compensation to the husband and children of a 45-year-old school principal.
The patient, K Vidya Prasad, died on February 11, 2010, allegedly due to negligence of the doctors after a surgery at the hospital. The judgment was passed on September 23.
H N M Prasad, a High Court advocate, and his children are the complainants in the case. In his complaint, Prasad alleged that Vidya was healthy when she was taken to the hospital, but died due to medical negligence. He further alleged that though preliminary tests revealed that Vidya had a cardiac problem, she wasn’t referred to any cardiologist.
They alleged the hospital did not have a cardiac care centre and that within a month after Vidya’s death, Fortis launched a heartcare centre. Another allegation was that when Vidya’s blood pressure fell, there was no blood available in the hospital. In other words, the doctors who attended on the patient did not keep the blood ready for emergency.
The commission ordered that the defendants in the case should deposit the said amount within eight weeks from the date of receipt of the copy of the order.
In September 2011, the licence of Fortis Hospital on Bannerghatta Road was cancelled by the Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare due to negligence by the doctors which caused the death of a retired Army Major’s wife. A detailed investigation had found negligence to be the cause of her death.
The probe confirmed that though the hospital had no licence to perform transplantations, it went ahead with it.
The retired Major had appealed to the Lokayukta just three months after the alleged negligence had claimed Vidya’s life. Repeated calls and email from Express to Fortis Hospital’s corporate communication team went unanswered.