KARIMNAGAR: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DCDRC) has imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on a leading private hospital in Karimnagar and the attending physician for a misdiagnosed case of HIV AIDS involving a 50-year-old woman from Jagtial district.
On September 1, 2010, the doctors at the hospital medically examined the woman, who was complaining of pain in her abdomen. They erroneously reported her as HIV positive after the initial Elisa screening test and subsequently administered a five-day treatment regimen. However, they failed to counsel her to undergo a confirmatory test, the DCDRC noted.
Subsequently, the aggrieved woman sought assistance from the Government Area Hospital in Jagtial. Upon evaluation by the AIDS Control Society, it was determined that she was, in fact, HIV-negative. In response, the woman lodged a complaint.
As a result of the incorrect diagnosis causing her mental agony and humiliation, the hospital and the responsible doctors are now obligated to compensate the victim with a sum of Rs 2 lakh, the DCDRC said. Additionally, the hospital and doctors are required to pay an annual interest of nine per cent starting from November 22, 2011. An additional expense of Rs 5,000, related to the complaint process, is to be settled within 30 days from the date of the verdict, the DCDRC officially ruled recently.
While the hospital asserted that it had not committed any errors, upon careful examination of the reports and after a series of deliberations, the DCDRC concluded that the hospital and its doctors had indeed erred in their diagnosis.