A hospital in Kalyan town has been ordered by the Thane District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission to compensate a man for a botched medical treatment and a lack of services that led to his leg being amputated with ten lakh rupees. The hospital was also ordered by the commission to pay Yogesh Ramkumar Pal 30,000 as the cost of the complaint in its ruling on March 23. On Saturday, a copy of the order was made accessible.
The complaint against a hospital doctor and the insurance provider, who were both defendants in the case along with the hospital, was dismissed by the commission. Pal told the commission that he injured his right knee after falling off a motorbike on October 22, 2010. He was unable to walk and was rushed to the hospital in Kalyan town, in the Thane district of Maharashtra, where he received initial care and had his leg plastered. The following day, he was released. Two days later, he noticed no sensation in his right leg and sought medical attention. The doctors there determined that blood circulation was hindered by the plaster’s tight application and suggested he visit the King Edward Memorial (KEM) in nearby Mumbai.
The blood flow to the man’s right leg was restricted and stopped, according to doctors at the KEM, because of incorrect and careless plaster application at the hospital in Kalyan. On October 29, 2010, the right leg was amputated as they had advised. The complaint informed the panel that he was permanently disabled and lost his right leg as a result of improper, careless, and subpar treatment at the Kalyan hospital.
Due to gangrene, the complainant underwent another surgery. His right thigh was removed, leaving only his lower leg. The plaintiff lost a full academic year and was unable to take the Class 12 exams. He submitted that he is still not in a fit mental condition due to the shock and it has affected his livelihood. Later, after spending more than 3.5 lakh rupees to have an artificial leg attached, the plaintiff sought reimbursement from the hospital. Vijay C. Premchandani, the president of the consumer commission, and Poonam V. Maharshi, a member, noticed that the complainant reported no sensation in his right leg following discharge on October 23, 2010. As a result, his father rushed him to the hospital, where he was eventually admitted at around 10 am. He was then immediately referred to the KEM hospital for additional care at around 5 p.m. The said fact has been admitted to the hospital. It is also admitted that the patient was having an emergency and it was seen and observed by a doctor, who advised that he be taken to the KEM Hospital for further investigation and treatment, if any, the commission said.
Why was the complainant held from 10 am to 5 pm on October 25, 2010, the opponents claimed in their written response, given that they had resident doctors on call 24 hours a day? According to the commission, this establishes that the hospital’s level of treatment was inadequate and caused the complainant to suffer unnecessarily.