The Indraprastha Apollo and its gynaecologist have been directed by the apex consumer commission to pay Rs1 crore compensation to a couple, whose baby suffered mental disability due to the “negligence” of the doctor at the time of delivery more than 15 years ago.
The child, that underwent treatment for her ailment at several hospitals, had died at the age of 12 years, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) noted in its order while also imposing punitive costs of Rs10 lakh on Indraprastha Apollo.
Of the Rs1 crore compensation, awarded to the doctor couple, Rs80 lakh has to be paid by the hospital and the remaining Rs20 lakh by Dr Sohini Verma, the gynaecologist, the NCDRC ordered while observing it was a “peculiar case” in which the “mother lost her precious child, whereas the child lost all its existence since birth”.
“The insurance company shall indemnify the respective opposite parties (hospital and doctor), as per law,” it said.
The bench, presided by Justice JM Malik, said that the hospital and its doctor indulged in “unethical medical practices and professional misconduct like tampering of medical records to the maximum extent”.
“On bare perusal, it is apparent that, records are tampered at the extents which show erasing marks, pinholes. There are some handwritten insertions, overwritings and discrepancies in the doctor’s and sister’s chart,” it said.
The bench said it was important for the doctors and hospitals to properly maintain records of patients as “it will help the doctor to prove that the treat-ment was carried out properly”.
The NCDRC also observed that the “corporate hospitals” and specialists, were expected
to “perform at a higher level
than other hospitals/general practitioners” and they need to be “accountable to a certain degree”.
The NCDRC in its 43-page judgement said, “They (hospitals) after all, represent themselves as possessing highest standard facilities and care; also possess superior skills and additional training. The hospital charges and the doctor’s fees normally reflect this. No doubt that compensation in medical negligence cases has to be just and adequate, that medical professionals need to be accountable to a certain degree.”
The doctor and hospital had denied the allegations saying there was neither excessive dosage of medicine nor delay in performing cesarean. The hospital had also produced opinions of its three expert doctors who said the treatment given was correct.
NCDRC, however, rejected their opinion saying, “We reject the expert opinion produced from three expert’s hospital as they have opined on the basis of tampered medical records, and they were from same hospital and more chances of interested witnesses.” The commission accepted the contention of the complainant couple that a long labour process brought about by ‘poor and negligent medical management’ caused the ‘birth of asphyxiated child with cerebral palsy and seizures’ in 1999.
It also said a lot of time was wasted and critical warning signs were missed by the doctor during the delivery. It observed that
the doctor kept on increasing
the dosage of Syntocinon, given for speeding up delivery, to
the patient “without careful monitoring” and “in a
haphazard manner”.
It added that despite the standard use of Electronic Foetal Monitoring (EFM) in hospitals today, sometimes doctors and nurses “still fail to monitor their patients,” which can lead to debilitating birth injuries for the baby. “Indeed, it is important for obstetrician and the medical team to pay close attention to the foetal heart tracings. Medical personnel should be skilled enough in heart tracing interpretation that they notice even subtle changes in the tracings,” it said.
According to the complaint filed by the child’s mother, Dr Indu Sharma, she was admitted to Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in Sarita Vihar here for her delivery on June 10, 1999 but due to non-availability of a senior doctor, a resident doctor attended to her. The resident doctor did not mention the risk factors and did not inform his seniors, she had said, adding that on the next day Dr Verma had examined her and gave her a very high dose of Syntocinon to speed up delivery process due to which the heart rate of the child began to sink by midnight.
She had alleged the doctor abnormally delayed performing the Cesarean for about 27 hours and the excessive dose of Syntocinon caused foetal distress and cerebral anoxia-palsy.
She further alleged that the hospital and doctors assured her that all the reports were normal but the condition of the baby deteriorated.
The child was referred to several private and Government hospitals, including AIIMS, before she died at the age of 12 years, the mother had said.