Vinod Jain vs Santokba Durlabhji Memorial Hospital

2. The sad demise of the wife of the appellant on 31.10.2011 has resulted in the legal proceedings being initiated by the appellant on a belief that the cause of her death was medical negligence. The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Rajasthan (for short ‘State Commission’) found in favour of the appellant vide order dated 11.5.2016, but the said order was upset in appeal in the National 1 Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi (for short ‘NCDRC’) vide order dated 1.8.2017. We are, thus, faced with the present appeal.

3. Late Mrs. Sudha Jain was the wife of the appellant, who was suffering from various diseases – oesophageal cancer (past history of colon and breast cancer), hypertension and type 2 diabetes. The occasion to be admitted to respondent No.1-Hospital and being treated by respondent No.2-Doctor on 15.10.2011 was chills and fever as also for re-insertion of nasal feed tube, stated to be dislodged due to severe dysphagia. She was attended to by respondent No.2-Doctor for the chill and fever, and nasal feed tube was inserted on the same day by Dr. Anurag Govil, with some allied tests prescribed to be carried out. One of the tests was a Complete Blood Count Report, which found that the WBC count was high, indicative of infection. She had also running temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit, and her medical treatment commenced with intravenous administration of injection Magnex of 1.5 mg. As per the medical reports, the cannula used for intravenous treatment stopped functioning and respondent No.2-Doctor prescribed a further antibiotic tablet, Polypod (Cefpodoxime) to be orally 2 administered through the nasal tube. The patient was discharged from respondent No.1-Hospital on 18.10.2011, at which stage also her WBC count was high and she was prescribed to continue taking her medicines for a period of 5 days post discharge, which apparently was administered to her, as per the appellant.

4. The appellant claimed that on 23.10.2011, his wife went into coma and had to be admitted to a nearby Heart and General Hospital, where she was put on life-support ventilation system. The WBC count of the wife of the appellant had risen even further and the systolic BP was only

40. Her health continued to deteriorate and she was required to be shifted to the Fortis Escorts Hospital, where she finally succumbed to her illness on 31.10.2011.

5. The appellant, after the initial period of mourning, is stated to have consulted various doctors, including his son, who is stated to be a doctor practicing in USA. It is his belief, on the basis of such discussion, that the respondents were guilty of medical negligence in the manner in which medical treatment was administered to his wife and her subsequent discharge from respondent No.1-Hospital. The appellant filed a complaint with the Medical Council of Rajasthan, a statutory body 3 constituted under the Rajasthan Medical Act, 1952, but that endeavour proved to be unsuccessful as no case of medical negligence was found in the given facts of the case, in terms of the order passed on 13.7.2012. The process of coming to this conclusion included the response of respondent No.2-Doctor to a panel of eleven doctors, which scrutinised the complaint and the material placed before the panel, by the appellant. The further appeal of the appellant, before the Medical Council of India was rejected as time barred on 8.3.2013. The next legal journey of the appellant began by approaching the State Commission, by filing a consumer complaint. The appellant sought to make out a case of: (a) inappropriate and ineffective medication; (b) failure to restart the cannula for IV medication; (c) premature discharge of the deceased despite her condition warranting treatment in the ICU; (d) oral administration of Polypod antibiotic, despite her critical condition, which actually required intravenous administration of the medicine.

13. Now turning to the application of the aforesaid principles to the facts at hand. It is material to note that the respondent No.1-Hospital promptly attended to the wife of the appellant. Respondent No.2, physician, once again, attended to her promptly, and started her on antibiotic treatment. The nasal feed tube was re-inserted promptly. However, in the early hours on the next day, on 16.10.2011, the cannula stopped functioning and instead of re-cannulating the patient, oral administration of the antibiotic Polypod was found justified. It is this aspect, which according to the appellant, amounts to medical negligence. The explanation offered by respondent No.2-Doctor was that when he attended the patient at 11:00 a.m. on 16.10.2011, he found that the drip 10 had been disconnected, on account of all peripheral veins being blocked due to past chemotherapies, and that the drip had been stopped, the night before itself, at the instance of the appellant. Taking into consideration the fact that the patient was normal, afebrile, well-hydrated and displayed normal vitals, the oral administration of the tablet was prescribed. This, according to the NCDRC was the professional and medical assessment by respondent No.2-Doctor, arrived at on the basis of a medical condition of the patient, and could not constitute medical negligence.

18. We cannot fault the reasoning of the NCDRC. Thus, the result is that the appeal is dismissed, leaving the parties to bear their own costs.

February 25, 2019.