NASHIK, INDIA — The Nashik District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has found two private practitioners guilty of gross medical negligence, directing them to collectively pay over ₹12.7 lakh to a woman after leaving a surgical mop inside her abdomen during a caesarean delivery. The landmark judgment underscores severe administrative and diagnostic lapses, reinforcing patients’ rights against surgical errors in private healthcare facilities.
A Routine Delivery Turns Life-Threatening
The case dates back to March 5, 2022, when the 32-year-old complainant, Prajakta Dond, a resident of Sinnar taluka, was admitted to a private hospital in Yeola for her child’s delivery. While she underwent a caesarean section the following day, her post-operative recovery was cut short by excruciating health anomalies:
- Dismissed Symptoms: Following the delivery, Dond repeatedly complained of intense abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, and severe backaches.
- The Gas Excuse: Instead of performing standard diagnostic investigations, the attending doctors allegedly brushed off her agony, attributing it to routine postpartum gas, and discharged her on March 11.
- Emergent Complications: As her physical state drastically deteriorated, her family rushed her to another medical facility on March 22, where an emergency ultrasonography and CT scan revealed a massive foreign object lodged in her body.
Two Litres of Pus and Ruptured Organs
An emergency corrective surgery unravelled a harrowing reality—a cotton sponge, or abdominal surgical mop, had been entirely forgotten inside her abdominal cavity during the initial C-section. The prolonged presence of the unsterilized medical textile caused a massive internal infection, leading to the accumulation of nearly two litres of toxic pus. Furthermore, the surgical mop caused severe perforations in her intestines, forcing the young mother into extended intensive care and intensive corrective treatment.
The Consumer Commission’s Strict Legal Mandate
In its final ruling, the three-member bench—comprising President Shilpa S. Dolharkar, Kavita A. Chavan, and Prerna Lonkar—slammed the treating medical team. The commission noted that the surgical blunder stood irrefutably verified by both the secondary hospital’s CT scan records and a sworn affidavit submitted by the emergency operating surgeon. The panel deeply criticized the doctors for failing to handle basic medical examinations when the patient originally flagged her distress.
Conclusively establishing service deficiencies, the Nashik Consumer Court ordered the two doctors to pay ₹5 lakh each (totaling ₹10 lakh) as direct compensation for mental and physical agony. Additionally, the doctors must jointly reimburse ₹2.7 lakh to cover the medical and surgical expenses incurred by the family during her secondary emergency treatments.
