Mumbai: Parel Hospital and an orthopaedic physician were ordered to pay the family over Rs. 12 lakhs in compensation plus interest, fifteen years after a 66-year-old woman died as a result of excessive anaesthesia use following surgery for a fractured forearm.

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) upheld a state commissions 2018 ruling, declaring that even though the anesthesiologist was responsible for the hospitals vicarious culpability, the anesthesiologist was negligent. The commission added that he was expected to take care to ensure a thorough pre-anaesthetic check-up and fitness before beginning surgery, but this was not done in this case.

The National Consumer Commission noted that it is important to highlight the fact that the anesthesiologist relied on telephone contact from OP-1 and gave his approval for administering anaesthesia. However, they added that Dr Ajay Rathod, the operating surgeon, did not commit any medical malpractice.

According to the expert committee report from the Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals departments of traumatology and orthopaedic surgery, the pre-and post-operative care in the present case was questionable because there was no recovery from anaesthesia following the procedure.

Mrs Uma Nikam, the patients daughter, stated that Mrs Kusum Memane, her mother, fractured her wrist on June 20, 2008. In her lawsuit, she claimed that her mother underwent surgery the following day at Parel Hospital, as suggested by Dr Rathore. The hospital and the doctor appealed to the National Consumer Commission in 2019.

(Source: https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/mumbai-doctor-hospital-asked-to-pay-kin-over-rs-12-lakh-for-medical-negligence/99366651 )