H’bag doc fined 12.5L for medical negligence

Hazaribag: A city based orthopaedic surgeon was on Saturday handed a penalty of Rs 12.5 lakh for alleged medical negligence. Dr Bhanu Shankar was directed by the district consumer disputes redressal forum to pay the sum to the complainant, who was his patient. Forum's president Shiv Kumar Shukla passed the order after hearing a complaint filed by one advocate Parmanand Pradhan. In his complaint, Pradhan alleged negligence in his treatment. Pradhan fractured his leg after slipping into a drain on November 5, 2017. The next day, he consulted Shankar, who advised surgery and insertion of a steel plate. The operation was performed two days later. For nearly a month, he continued follow-up treatment, but soon after, puss formed in the spot where surgery was performed. When he approached Shankar again, the doctor allegedly expressed helplessness. Pradhan later consulted another doctor in Ranchi, who informed him that the infection had spread due to negligence during the earlier procedure. The situation worsened, and over the next few years, Pradhan had to undergo nearly a dozen surgeries in Patna, Ranchi, Hyderabad, and Sheikhpura in Bihar. At one point, doctors even suggested amputation, but surgeons in Hyderabad managed to save his leg. "It took me nearly five years of continuous treatment to recover," Pradhan told TOI. Shankar could not be reached for comments as his phone remained switched off.