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Insurance firm to pay ₹5L to patient for negligence in treatment
IVY Hospital to pay ₹30,000 to patient for negligence in treatment by hospital and Dr Tiwana
The United India Insurance Company has been directed to pay ₹5 lakh for deficiency of service to a 21-year-old, and IVY Hospital and neurosurgeon Dr JS Tiwana are to pay him ₹30,000 for negligence in treatment in a 2017 case.
Furious over deficiency in service and negligence in treatment, the district consumer disputes redressal forum, SBS Nagar, also asked IVY Healthcare Infrastructure to pay ₹30, 000 in compensation to the patient, and fined the insurance company a sum of ₹10,000 for concealing facts before the forum.
On March 1, 2017, Ajay Singh, resident of Dhaingarpur village in SBS Nagar, met with an accident. He was taken to the IVY multi-specialty hospital, where he underwent a cranioplasty and Dr Tiwana performed the bone grafting. Following discharge from hospital, and taking advice from IVY hospital, he went to PGIMER, Chandigarh on March 30, 2017, for a neck surgery.
On June 10, when he suffered pain in the head, a scan at IVY hospital found that the grafted bone was inflated and the right eye was swollen. “The hospital and Dr Tiwana advised me to visit Government Medical College Hospital in Sector 32, Chandigarh, which diagnosed that the bone graft in his head was infected. The operation had not been unsuccessful due to negligence and I suffered much pain,” the patient told the forum in his complaint.
Upon notice, the hospital representative refuted the allegations saying the complainant was discharged from hospital in stable condition in 2017, and they alleged that had cooked up a story.
Considering all facts, the forum, in its order, attributed deficiency and unfair trade practice on the part of doctor, hospital and insurance company in providing treatment. They treated the complainant negligently, and again and again advised him to go to other hospitals for further treatment, as well as received unnecessary charges from him without reason.
The forum further directed the insurance to deposit ₹10,000 as costs in the Consumer Legal Aid Account for misleading the forum and concealing the fact that the policy was not valid when complainant underwent treatment at IVY hospital.
