New Delhi, awarded by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission $Rs 2 crore compensation to the family of a woman who died after her healthy left kidney was removed instead of her diseased right kidney in 2012, calling the botched surgery “one of the gravest forms of negligence”.
The committee, comprising Chairman A P Sahi and member Bharatkumar Pandya, was hearing a complaint filed by the family of the deceased, 56-year-old Shanti Devi. It held Dr. Rajeev Lochan, a surgeon in Uttar Pradesh, responsible for gross medical negligence.
In an order dated May 18, the NCDC said: “We have no doubt that this is one of the most serious and rarely witnessed forms of negligence of judicial approximation before the courts and tribunals.”
According to the prosecution, Shanti Devi went to the doctor in April 2012 suffering from abdominal pain, and was diagnosed with acute hydrolysis of the right kidney. Preoperative medical reports showed that both kidneys were healthy, and it was determined that the right kidney was diseased.
The authority indicated that the patient underwent surgery on May 6, 2012 to remove the right kidney. However, subsequent radiological and CT scans performed in June 2012 revealed that the right kidney was still present while the healthy left kidney was missing.
She noted that the doctor himself admitted in his written response that “an incision was made on the right side, but the left kidney was removed.”
“The opposition party leaves no room for doubt that the left kidney was removed even though the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and the subject of the histopathology were all about the right kidney,” she said.
The National Center also cited the findings of the Uttar Pradesh Medical Council and the Medical Council of India, both of which found the doctor negligent. The UP Medical Council had suspended his medical registration for two years and found that a fake case sheet had been submitted in his defence.
The patient had been on dialysis for almost two years and died on 20 February 2014. The panel found that the failing right kidney, which should have been removed, continued to deteriorate her condition.
“In our opinion, it is clearly a result of gross negligence that the qualified doctor was unable to ascertain whether he was removing the right or left kidney when he was clearly planning to remove only the right kidney,” the board said.
The committee described the operation to remove the healthy kidney as a “medical disaster and negligence of the first degree,” and said that the patient “would have lived longer” if the left kidney had remained healthy.
The NCDRC directed the doctor to pay $1.5 Crore as compensation for negligence and $10 thousand for each of the complainants in exchange for the loss of their spouse, love and affection. And it was also granted $1 lakh to cover legal expenses.
“Consequently, the complainants are entitled to a lump sum of Rs $2 crores as compensation from the opposite party.”
The amount is scheduled to be repaid within three months plus an annual interest of six percent from February 20, 2014 until actual payment, otherwise the interest rate will rise to nine percent.
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