Instances of patients suing doctors and hospitals for not receiving desired result of a surgery and patients who are victims of rare but known complications are on a steady incline. Counselling them before performing the procedure could be a way to reduce such avoidable cases.
This story is of a patient who underwent cataract surgery that was performed using phaco technology by the doctor. Unfortunately the posterior segment broke during the surgery but the patient was immediately referred to a higher centre.
After about twenty days another surgery was performed at yet another hospital after which the patient recovered. The doctor was sued by patient who blamed him for post-surgery complications.
Relying on medical literature, the Commission observed that phaco technology was a widely accepted and used method. Although rare, the post-surgery complication faced by the patient was also well-documented and accepted by medical science.
The Commission dismissed patient’s complain and the doctor, of course, was not held negligent.
Source: Order pronounced by West Bengal State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, on 28th January, 2020.
