New Delhi: The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has awarded a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the parents of a six-year-old in a medical negligence case after the boy, who was admitted for a small squint eye correction surgery, died at Chennai’s Sankara Nethralaya hospital. After referring to several Supreme Court decisions, a three-member NCDRC bench, presided over by its president Justice R K Agrawal, passed the compensation order, while holding the hospital and its doctors responsible for medical negligence.
On the day before the surgery, when the child was examined by a physician, she noticed a faint systolic ‘murmur’ and chest was abnormality, which was brought to the notice of senior cardiologist. The senior cardiologist examined the child and after conducting some exercise concluded that there was no murmur. He also ruled out any further tests and declared the child to be fit for general anesthesia.
On the day of the operation, the child was taken to the hospital on an empty stomach at 9 am but was allotted a bed and taken to the operation theatre only at 2 pm. His parents had alleged that the more than nine hours the boy was kept on fasting had led to him being hypoglycemic, which could have potentially led to a cardiac arrest.