A 33-year-old woman, who traveled from Switzerland to Bengaluru for IVF treatment, faced a distressing ordeal when she discovered that negligence at a laboratory had rendered her biopsy sample unsuitable for testing.
According to a report in The Times of India, although the hospital offered to provide the procedure free of charge during her next visit to India, the woman decided to approach the consumer court. Eventually, she successfully obtained a refund for her flight tickets and was awarded a compensation of Rs 35,000.
The woman, originally from Karnataka, had married in 2011 and settled in Wil City, Switzerland. Struggling with infertility, the couple sought assistance and consulted a doctor at a Bengaluru hospital, who advised the woman to travel to India for IVF procedures.
Arriving in Bengaluru on March 19, 2018, the woman was admitted to the hospital four days later after paying Rs 43,839. The hospital informed her that the test results would be available within 10 days.
However, a few days later, the woman’s husband received a call from the doctor, explaining that there had been a case of medical negligence at the laboratory, rendering the sample unsuitable for testing. The doctor assured them that she would try to convince the hospital management to reimburse all expenses, including travel costs. However, when the woman contacted the doctor on May 26, 2018, she was informed that the hospital was unwilling to provide compensation but offered to redo the procedure free of charge if she visited India again.