Ramesh Chandra Agrawal vs Regency Hospital Ltd. & Ors

2) The facts in brief are as under:

It is further stated, that, the third operation was preformed and it 2 provided the appellant some relief, but left him handicapped due to his legs being rendered useless and loss of control over his Bladder movement.

The claim of the appellant before the National Commission was as under :

Hence, it was claimed that there is gross negligence and carelessness on the part of the respondents in treating the complainant/appellant, 3 and therefore, respondents be directed to pay a sum of Rs. 22,00,000/-

with interest at the rate of 24% per annum to the complainant.

ii) Diagnosis At present, the treatment of Pott's disease remains controversial. Some advocate conservative treatment with late spinal fusion and others early spinal fusion followed by conservative treatment Surgical treatment should include anti-TB medication, abscess decompression. The anterior surgical approach is chosen for cervical and lumbar regions. Anterior spinal fusions is currently thought to be the best surgical adjunct to after atleast 18 months of anti-TB chemotherapy. The differential diagnosis of lower back pain is complicated by the number of possible causes and the patient's reaction to the discomfort. In many cases the patient's perception of back pain is influenced by poor-quality sleep or emotional issues related to occupation or family matters. A primary care doctor will begin by taking a careful medical and occupational history, asking about the onset of the pain as well as 6 its location and other characteristics. Back pain associated with the lumbar spine very often affects the patient's ability to move, and the muscles overlying the affected vertebrae may feel sore or tight. Pain resulting from heavy lifting usually begins within 24 hours of the overexertion. Most patients who do not have a history of chronic pain in the lower back feel better after 48 hours of bed rest with pain medication and either a heating pad or ice pack to relax muscle spasms.

18) Though we have adverted to the nature of disease and the relevancy of the expert opinion, we do not think it necessary to go into the merits of the case in view of the course we propose to adopt, and in view of the fact that the Commission is the last fact finding authority in the scheme of the Act.

19) The Commission by its order dated 6.3.2000 had requested Dr. A. K. Singh, Neurologist, to give his opinion on the surgery done in this case. It was also ordered that all the records of the surgery will be submitted by the complainant to the Registrar of the Commission to enable him to forward it to Dr. A. K. Singh, along with the complaint and also the affidavits filed on behalf of the respondents. Dr. A. K. Singh will make himself familiar with the complaint and the records and then give his opinion.

13 In view of the foregoing, I feel that no much additional information, over and above what had originally been provided to me by Dr. Atul Sahai, has been made available now for me to substantially revise my opinion earlier. I, therefore, stand by my earlier opinion referred to above."

27) In view of the above discussion, appeal requires to be allowed and, accordingly, it is allowed. The impugned order is set aside. The Registrar of the Commission is directed to forward all the records of the treatment filed by the appellant before the Commission to Dr. A. K. Singh, Neurologist, who is now working at Fortis Hospital, Noida, for his expert opinion within one month from the date of receipt of this order, with a request to give his expert opinion on the basis of the records of the treatment and affidavits filed by both the parties within two months from the date the records are made available to him. After receipt of the expert opinion, the Commission is requested to pass fresh order in accordance with law. No order as to costs.