Negligent doctor told to pay his patient Rs 28,000

CHENNAI: An instance of oversight has cost a doctor dear with the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) ordering him to pay a sum of Rs 28,000 to a patient for medical negligence.
A bench of forum’s president Justice M Thanikachalam, judicial member J Jayaram and member Vasugi Ramanan was hearing a complaint filed by S Sakthivel from Tiruvarur district.Sakthivel said he fell off a tree in November 2004 and a stick pierced his right scrotum. He approached Dr Arangamurugan at the government hospital in Melpuram for treatment . Noticing an open wound, the doctor gave him a saline wash and closed the wound with sutures, claiming there was no foreign body lodged inside. He collected a fee of Rs 2,000.
Satkthivel said since the pain did not subside, he approached the doctor again a week later. After removing the sutures, Dr Arangamurugan told him the pain might be due to the removal of sutures and that it would subside in due course. Even on Sakthivel’s third visit a few days later, the doctor assured him that the medicines prescribed would take care of the swelling.
However, there was no complete healing as the wound continued to swell, prompting Sakthivel to suspect a pus formation. After a little over a month, he approached another doctor who noticed a foreign body lodged inside. A surgery was performed to remove it and Sakthivel was discharged on January 19, 2005.
Sakthivel said due to improper diagnosis and not treating the wound properly, he had suffered for a total of 36 days. He sought a compensation for causing mental agony due to deficiency in service.
The doctor maintained that the foreign particle was not visible despite an X-ray and clinical examination. Based on the contentions and medical literature brought to its notice, the Tiruvarur district consumer disputes redressal forum directed that the doctor pay a sum of Rs 25,000 as compensation with costs of Rs 3,000.
The doctor filed an appeal with the state forum. Dismissing the appeal, the bench observed that the doctor should have recommended his patient to go for ultrasonography which would have shown the presence of a foreign body.
Pointing out that it was the duty of a prudent doctor to apply due care and caution towards the patient , the bench said the physician should have probed the matter further – at least on the patient’s third visit – instead of prescribing medicines , forgetting the fact that the swelling had not subsided since the patient’s last visit. Adding that this could be construed as a “negligent act” , the forum upheld the order of the district commission and directed the doctor to pay Rs 28,000 with interest.