Doctors forgetting surgical scissors, needles or other such equipment is occurring at a worrying regularity.
Jaipal had fractured his left leg and had approached Safdarjung Hospital where Dr. Singh performed a surgery to fix the plate. After being discharged, Jaipal’s discomfort increased instead of being alleviated from it. He waited for a year and regularly followed up with the doctor but nothing good came out of the long wait.
A second surgery was performed at the hospital by Dr. Singh but again, to no avail. Fed up of the pain, Jaipal got an x-ray done on his own and shockingly discovered a suture needle in the thigh tissue. He underwent another surgery after which he was relieved of the pain he suffered for a long period of time.
When he approached the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi, he was astonished at the doctor’s indifference. It was stated that Jaipal was not a consumer in the first place, hence there can be no question of any negligence. It was further stated that the patient never complained of any pain whenever he followed up. What’s more, shockingly claimed the doctor, is that the x-ray films can be easily fabricated and the patient has also got a fabricated x-ray!
The Commission didn’t take any of the nonsensical defence presented by the doctor seriously. From the medical records and x-ray reports, it was evident that the doctor had indeed forgotten the suture needle in the patient’s thigh, observed the Commission and held the doctor guilty of negligence and awarded compensation to Jaipal.
Two lakhs that the doctor paid as compensation would perhaps teach him of admitting the mistake rather than making unbelievable claims.
Source: Order pronounced by State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi on 5th December, 2017.
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