The Ernakulam Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum has slapped a fine of `5 lakh on Lisie Hospital and its two doctors, Dr Anandapadmanabhan and Dr Gopikrishnan, for medical negligence and wrong diagnosis thereby resulting in the death of a patient.
The complaint was filed by the relatives of Haridas, Sreekrishna Nivas, Kalladakkevilaparambu, Vennala, who died of medical negligence on April 22, 2008, after being hospitalised for hernia laparoscopy.
After the surgery, the patient complained of uneasiness and went unconscious the next day. Following it, he was given enema at 4 am and an injection for low blood pressure before shifting to ICU at 7.30 pm. Though a second surgery was conducted on the same day, his condition failed to improve and had to suffer severe suffocation.
It was then that Dr Anandapadmanabhan subjected the patient to ‘colostomy’ on May 5. A huge quantity of puss was found inside the stomach of the patient.
When Dr Anandapadmanabhan told the patients relatives that there was inflammation in the intestine, his family requested an infection test but was refused. The doctor went on leave from May 6. Dr Gopikrishnan who started treating the patient too suspected an infection but refused to conduct a test even after persistent requests from the Haridas’ family.
The patient was then shifted to another private hospital wherein the doctors removed puss and motion from his stomach. The doctors had said that the previous treatment had caused a huge wound on the body of the patient and and there was little chance of recovery. The complainants had to spend `5 lakh.
The court refuted that the defendant’s argument that there was no direct evidence against the hospital to show that the infection was acquired there. “On the contrary, there is nothing to show that the source of infection lay outside the hospital. Hence, the court cannot accept the contentions of the opposite party that it was necessary for the complainants to produce expert evidence to prove negligence on the part of doctors concerned,” the order stated.
A Rajesh, president, Ernakulam Consumer Dispute Forum said in cases of medical negligence, the primary burden lies on the complainant as they had to prove medical negligence.
“But, once it is proved, the burden shifts and the opposite party has to disprove it. Here, the opposite party failed in it. The Forum ordered the opposite parties to pay `5 lakh to the legal heirs of the deceased,” he said.