The Delhi High Court has ordered the city government to pay ₹3 lakh in ex-gratia to a two-year-old boy who lost his vision after being born prematurely at Guru Gobind Singh Government Hospital (GSSH), while observing that no case of medical negligence was established.
According to the petition, the minor was born prematurely in the 29th week of pregnancy on June 28, 2020, and became completely blind as a result of medical negligence at the GGSH, as a Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) screening that was supposed to be done within four weeks of the child’s birth was not done in time.
The minor’s father sought ₹11 crore in compensation for causing loss of vision and medical expenses incurred at various hospitals.
While hearing the petition, justice Prathiba M Singh noted that the newly born child had gone blind due to various unfortunate circumstances.
In asking the government to be sympathetic in the child’s case because they had to travel from hospital to hospital for treatment, the court said that after reviewing the record, it cannot go into the facts in detail and assign blame to any specific individual or organisation.
“The child was born prematurely, had several complications, and later contracted pneumonia. Throughout this, the ophthalmic department has performed the necessary tests and taken the necessary steps. However, the child could not be discharged early due to various complications. On July 28, 2022, the ophthalmic department referred the case to the Dr Rajendra Prasad Ophthalmic Centre at AIIMS. However, the parents only took the child to AIIMS in the first week of September,” the court said in its March 21 order.
{{/usCountry}}“The child was born prematurely, had several complications, and later contracted pneumonia. Throughout this, the ophthalmic department has performed the necessary tests and taken the necessary steps. However, the child could not be discharged early due to various complications. On July 28, 2022, the ophthalmic department referred the case to the Dr Rajendra Prasad Ophthalmic Centre at AIIMS. However, the parents only took the child to AIIMS in the first week of September,” the court said in its March 21 order.
{{/usCountry}}The court also noted a submission from a senior resident doctor in the hospital’s department of ophthalmology, who told the court that after being informed about the child’s condition on July 27, 2020, all necessary steps were taken to conduct his dilation.
“With these factors in mind, based on the doctor’s submissions and upon perusing the record, the finding of medical negligence cannot be given by this court at this stage, and the same may require a proper assessment on a factual basis, which this court is not to undertake in a writ petition,” the judge added.
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