Delhi man sues hospital for botched surgery

A 62-year-old Delhi man has accused a private hospital of botching up a surgery that left him urinating from rectum. He has filed a case of medical negligence and sought Rs 98 lakh in damages.

A 62-year-old Delhi man has accused a private hospital of botching up a surgery that left him urinating from rectum. He has filed a case of medical negligence and sought Rs 98 lakh in damages.

Vinod Khanna was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate that can be fixed through a simple surgery priced at Rs. 1.25 lakh. He underwent a surgical procedure on January 11, 2010 at RG Stone East of Kailash hospital.

His surgeons, however, allegedly fouled it up so badly that he started urinating from rectum. Khanna, who retired two years ago from a private company, says he spent an additional Rs. 30 lakh on corrective surgeries and a series of treatments over the next four years.

"I’m better, but I have screws in my abdomen and still have to wear diapers," Khanna told HT.

The hospital denied the charge and accused Khanna of not following their advice and suppressing facts. "The patient was well informed about all his pre-existing conditions… Post operation, urine leakage through rectum was observed, which as per the surgeon was normal and would settle down spontaneously," RG Stone said in a statement.

Two other renowned private hospitals that Khanna visited later ‘also certified the successful management of the condition of the patient’, the statement said.

Khanna has sought Rs 98 lakh in damages from RG Stone. "The hospital has requested the compensation amount be brought down to Rs 20 lakh, which can be interpreted as an admission of negligence," the RK Puram resident said.

He filed a medical negligence case with the Delhi State Consumer Redressal Commission in 2010. By September 2013, all the paperwork was done but no verdict had come in, he said.

"I'm very ill now and have repeatedly requested the honourable judges to speed up the matter… but my pleas have fallen on deaf ears," he said.

The law says consumer complaints should be heard at the earliest and decided in three months or five if detailed analysis or tests are required.

At the time of discharge, Khanna was prescribed antibiotics and follow-up, but he discontinued the medication and went to two other private hospitals, RG stone said. Khanna, the statement said, was hiding the fact of “having been cured with medicines only within six weeks of the discharge from RG Stone”.

The medicines didn’t cure him, Khanna said. He underwent a surgical procedure at another hospital. He was better but not cured. “I’m leaking urine even today and use diapers.”

He had no money left and had exhausted almost all his savings, he said. “I can't keep going on like this," said Khanna, who has written to Chief Justice of India RM Lodha, the prime minister's office and Delhi’s lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung.

Khanna, who met law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, said he was not looking for a favourable judgment but for the case to be decided at the earliest.
The case will now be heard on September 25. "I’m sick and know I don’t have long to live. I have no choice but to wait," Khanna said.