Kolkata: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) has held a private hospital negligent for the significant muscle damage on the hand of a three year old child and has directed the hospital to pay Rs. 8 lakhs as compensation. Retired judge Ashim Banerjee who is the presiding officer of the WBCERC passed the order as he said in the order that the boy’s fingers has remained numb as a result of the neglect, and that there is no guarantee that his hand will ever regain its normal function.
The fact of the case is that the child broke his hand and was brought to the hospital by his family. A synthetic cast was fitted by an orthopaedic doctor under local anaesthesia. At 7:30 p.m., the treatment was completed, but the kid suddenly complained of severe pain. The child was not able sleep throughout night and was continuously crying throughout night. However, two resident medical officers who were attending the child made numerous unsuccessful attempts to get in touch with the orthopaedic surgeon during the course of the night when complications arose without any success.
“The child remained without proper treatment for approximately 24 hours. It was not until around 4:45 pm the next day that the orthopaedic surgeon finally attended to the boy. By the time the cast was removed, the damage was already severe. The muscles were significantly damaged, nearing the stage of gangrene,” Banerjee observed. The child was rushed to Apollo Hospitals in Chennai where he underwent surgery. Even though things have improved the child still gets numbness in his fingers and goes to physical therapy. After reviewing the case, an expert concluded that the kid should have been treated conservatively rather than with the synthetic cast, as mentioned by the bench.
“The critical factor was the 24-hour delay in treatment. When the child kept on crying at night if the doctor had removed the plaster, the situation might have not gotten out of hand.” Banerjee emphasized. He further mentioned that the boy was crying uncontrollably, and the hospital staff had administered a compress but had neglected to take off the cast. “If they couldn’t reach the treating orthopaedic surgeon, they should have sought another orthopaedic specialist.” The boy’s family suffered travel expenditures to Chennai for his treatment, and the hospital was ordered to pay ₹3 lakh in addition to ₹5 lakh for their negligence.
