By an August 7 ruling, Presiding member, Justice Ram Surat Ram Maurya and Technical member Bharat Kumar Pandya found merit in claims by the patient’s family that the angioplasty (a medical procedure to open blocked arteries, veins etc.) was unnecessarily conducted.
“It is proved that OP-2 (cardiac doctor) had ignored the lungs condition of the patient and proceeded for angioplasty although the patient was co-morbid and angioplasty was elective and not compulsory at that time. They cannot shirk their responsibility by saying that the patient and his daughter were doctors and they had given their informed consent, knowing well the risks and benefits,” the order said in this regard.
The forum found that due to negligence, the patient was left with permanent brain injury and in a coma for a while.
Even after coming out of the coma, he suffered complete paralysis on his left side and lost his ability to speak, hear or understand other people and was left in a vegetative state, the NCDRC was told.
The national consumer complaints forum held the hospital as well as the cardiac doctor, Dr Ashok Seth, jointly and severally liable for the patient’s condition and ordered them to pay ₹65 lakhs as compensation.
Source: Barandbench
