Suffering from recurring bouts of fever and chills, Dr. Khanwilkar took his wife to Hirnandani hospital where it was found that she had septicaemia caused due to a blocked and infected stent placed previously in the CBD.
The stent was replaced and Mrs. Khanwilkar was shifted out of the ICU after 9 days. However, her health started worsening – there was a drop in her saturated oxygen level and spike in fever. In a matter of just few hours, Mrs. Khanwilkar died.
Being a man of medicine, Dr. Khanwilkar was convinced that the doctors erred in treating his wife. He approached National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi making pointed allegations on the treating doctors. He alleged that the patient was shifted out of ICU despite having fever and no one attended to her immediately despite a sharp drop in her saturated oxygen level. One of the doctors did not even know how to auscultate, and furthermore, the treating doctors tampered with the medical records to hide the facts, alleged Dr. Khanwilkar.
It was quite clear that Dr. Khanwilkar was not a man of medicine at that moment, but a bereaved husband. From the medical records, the Commission duly noted that one of the treating doctors shifted the patient to ICU, administered the injection Akenil for controlling her fever and initiated CPR, but unfortunately the patient did not survive. Being a doctor, Dr. Khanwilkar was told, you should know that no cure is not a negligence – the doctors were not negligent; they tried but unfortunately Mrs. Khanwilkar could not be saved! This apt ruling by the Commission ended the browbeating between the doctors.
Source: Order pronounced by National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi in December, 2015.