TIRUNELVELI: In a case of medical negligence of a government doctor that allegedly led to the death of a woman at his private clinic in 2018, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has ordered the Tamil Nadu government to pay Rs 50 lakh, including Rs 6 lakh for vicarious liability, as compensation to the victim’s family within four weeks.
SHRC member V Kannadasan also directed the state to recover Rs 40 lakh from defendant Dr C Prabhakar, assistant professor of plastic surgery department of Thoothukudi Government Medical College, recommended his dismissal from service, and initiation of criminal action against him. The state must also monitor government doctors engaged in private practice, the SHRC order issued on Monday said.
In November 2018, complainant S Karuppasamy, a jawan, had admitted his wife Jaya with 30% burn injuries at Kovilpatti Government Headquarters Hospital (GHQH), where Dr Prabhakar was working. According to the petitioner, the doctor forced Jaya’s family members, with the help of two brokers, to shift her to Jai Hospital, his private facility.
SHRC directs state govt to recover Rs 40 lakh from doc
Jaya died after 40 days of treatment due to medical negligence, the petitioner said. Karuppasamy paid Rs 11 lakh to Dr Prabhakar for the treatment after mobilising Rs 9 lakh through personal loan and Rs 2 lakh by pledging gold ornaments. Dr. Prabhakar did not even share the patient’s medical records with the family, the prosecution said.
The SHRC in its order said, “The Tamil Nadu government shall pay Rs 50 lakh compensation to the complainant within four weeks. The government is vicariously liable to pay Rs 6 lakh, and recover Rs 40 lakh from Dr Prabhakar, Rs 2 lakh from Dr Venkateswarasri of GHQH, and Rs 1 lakh each from GHQH nurses Kumareswari and Gurulakshmi for negligence.”
The SHRC order also said, “The state must register a criminal case against Dr Prabhakar. The government shall also inquire into the allegations about quacks working in Jai Hospital. It shall monitor the private practice of government doctors and ensure that no patient is transferred from a government hospital to a private hospital".
"The state shall monitor the government doctors who are running private clinics, maintain their list, and ensure that they do not attend their clinics during duty hours. The government shall also fix a complaint box in all PHCs, taluk and district headquarters and medical college hospitals and take action on complaints” it added.