The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has directed the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre in Rohini to pay ₹20 lakh as compensation to a complainant for medical negligence.
Damage to organs
Enhancing the compensation provided by the State Commission, the NCDRC said on May 31, “Due to negligence of the opposite parties [causing] the patient grievous and permanent damage to her heart, bone and brain, crippling her to lead her life under physical and mental strain, which again was short-lived as she expired within a few years of chemotherapy. There was loss of earning to her husband for quitting his job and to attend to her. Therefore, we find it fit for enhancement of compensation.”
Weight reduced to 13 kg
It had been alleged by the family of the patient that the hospital and the attending doctors had failed to asses the dosage of medicine to be provided.
Further, it had been alleged in the complaint that by the end of the sixth chemotherapy cycle, the patient’s weight had reduced by 13 kg, which the attending doctor had failed to take into account.
Deny allegations
However, the hospital denied the allegations of negligence and contended that, “The patient was monitored and during every chemotherapy cycle, her vital parameters, blood pressure and pulse rate were normal.”
Directing the attending doctors to pay four lakh to the complainant out of the entire amount, the NCDRC, further, stated that the complainant should be compensated within four weeks.