Docs fined for giving wrong blood to patient

Three doctors from Ghaziabad were asked to pay a combined penalty of R 4.25 lakh by the district consumer forum. The three were accused of giving wrong blood type to a patient that eventually led to her death.

Three doctors from Ghaziabad were asked to pay a combined penalty of R 4.25 lakh by the district consumer forum. The three were accused of giving wrong blood type to a patient that eventually led to her death.

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Gyanendra Kumar Tyagi, a Raj Nagar resident, had filed a complaint in the consumer forum, alleging that his wife Savitri Tyagi was administered a wrong blood group at Poddar Nursing Home on September 24, 1993.

Savitri was advised an operation by Dr RK Poddar and his wife Dr Madhu Poddar. The patient was sent for a blood group examination at a nearby pathology lab which tested her as O+ in a written report.

"Complainants purchased four units of O+ blood group which was administered to her during her operation by the two doctors," forum's chairman AK Srivastava stated in his orders.

A couple of days later, the patient developed complications and was shifted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Delhi.

"The patient's blood group tests at AIIMS showed she was B+ and she developed complications after being given O+ blood," the forum said. Savitri died on December 14, 1993.

The forum imposed a R3 lakh penalty on the Poddars and R1.25 lakh penalty on Dr MM Kesarwani, the owner of Ghaziabad Pathology Laboratory where Savitri was initially tested.