Patient awarded Rs.1.6 Lakh compensation for botched Surgery

A Consumer Forum has levied a penalty of Rs 1.6 lakh on Gov Peripheral Hospital in Tondiarpet for medical negligence during a sterilization procedure.

In 2001, Jhansi Rani, a resident of New Washermenpet, underwent sterilization surgery at the hospital in Tondiarpet after giving birth to 2 children.

After her surgery, she continued with her normal matrimonial life but suffered from severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite & subsequently a nervous disorder, she said in her complaint.

In Feb 2017, when her pain became unbearable & she fainted, she got admitted to the emergency care unit (ECU) of Govt Stanley Hospital. 

Doctors there diagnosed that she had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy at the bladder. From Stanley, she was shifted to Govt RSRM Hospital in Royapuram for further treatment.

RSRM doctors informed her husband, a daily-wage labourer & a heart patient, that Rani’s life could be at threat anytime as due to the ectopic pregnancy. So they recommended emergency surgery. At the end of the critical surgery, doctors removed the ruptured ectopic foetus, & informed Rani that a sterilization surgery failure could be the reason behind her pregnancy.

Rani then filed a complaint against Tondiarpet hospital with the CM Special Cell, which in turn forwarded it to the Directorate of Family Welfare for further action. When she approached Greater Chennai Corporation seeking help, the civic body told her in a letter that she was eligible for compensation for the failure of sterilization surgery.

She approached the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Chennai (South) in March 2020 seeking relief, which awarded her the compensation.

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