Consumer court slaps Rs 50,000 damages on doctor

mangalore: the dakshina kannada district consumer disputes redressal forum slapped damages of rs 50,000 on an udupi-based doctor in a case of medical negligence. in 1998, dr chandrashekar of chandrashekar nursing home operated on pradeep, 9, for appendicitis, after which the boy died. the sentence was recently passed by the panel headed by m. sham bhat, with b.b.kanchan and sulochana v. rao as members, in accordance with sections 12 and 13 of the consumer protection act, 1986. the compensation claimed by the complainants amounted to rs 5 lakh. in a complaint to the redressal forum, pradeep's parents chandrashekar bangera and laxmi bangera alleged that their son died due to negligence and an overdose of an anaesthetic drug. they held dr chandrashekar and m.c. anup kumar of chandrashekar nursing home in kinnimulky of udupi taluk responsible. in 1998, pradeep developed chronic stomach ache. paediatrician dr u.b. shetty diagnosed the illness to be appendicitis and referred the patient for consultation and further treatment to dr chandrashekar, a general surgeon. after clinical tests, the doctor advised an operation and asked the boy's parents to admit him to his clinic on august 10, 1998. the complainants contended that as per advice, pradeep, who looked otherwise healthy, was admitted on the evening of august 10, following which he was operated. the parents were informed that the operation was successful and pradeep would soon recover from unconsciousness. however, he continued to be deeply unconscious throughout the night and started vomiting clotted blood every now and then, the parents maintained. despite being informed about the grim condition of the patient, the doctors did not turn up the whole night, leaving pradeep in the care of untrained nurses, the complaint stated. the next morning, the child continued to be in the same state and the parents insisted on shifting him to kasturba medical college hospital in manipal. though the idea was not well-received by the doctors, they had to succumb to pressure and agreed to discharge the patient. he was kept under observation in the multi-disciplinary intensive care unit at kmc and despite the last-ditch attempt there, pradeep breathed his last the same evening. the counsel for the complainants, a.p. gowrishanker from mangalore, contended that the patient was given an overdose of the wrong anaesthesia known as `katamine', resulting in amoxic brain damage which was severe, significant and irreversible. he argued that after the operation the doctors did not attend to the patient and failed to notice progressive deterioration of his condition. moreover, the operation was conducted without the advice and assistance of a qualified anaesthetist. noting all the angles of the case, a compensation of rs 6 lakh was claimed, which was later restricted to rs 5 lakh. hearing the arguments of the counsel representing the two parties and verifying medical records, the panel concluded that the weight of evidence in the case amply proved negligence on the part of the doctors. the panel did not buy the charges made by the accused that death was due to mismanagement of the case in kasturba hospital, stating that there was no material supporting such contention. the panel also awarded an omnibus compensation of rs 50,000 from the accused for the unfortunate loss of life along with a sum of rs 2,000 as cost of proceedings.