Negligent doctor directed to pay Rs 50,000 to patient

A surgeon’s negligent act of leaving cotton and broken bone chips inside a patient’s foot has landed him in trouble, reports HT Correspondent.

A surgeon’s negligent act of leaving cotton and broken bone chips inside a patient’s foot has landed him in trouble.

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The Delhi Consumer Commission has directed the doctor to pay Rs 50,000 to the hapless man who was forced to undergo another operation two years later.

“From the medical reports negligence is apparent and it is proved in as much as that when the treatment was given, no proper procedure was followed and thus infection was contracted and only thereafter as confirmed by the Safdarjung Hospital that the left foot suffered from abscess,” Commission president Justice J.D. Kapoor said.

Relying upon reports of Safdarjung Hospital, the Commission noted that Subhash Chandra Mishra contracted infection due to the surgeon’s negligence.

The Commission observed that there were bone pieces which were not removed by the doctor from the left foot during the surgery which was performed on Mishra in 1998.

“All these resulted in the passing of pus and pain to the complainant,” Justice Kapoor said.

“Taking an overall view of the matter, we deem that a lump sum compensation of Rs 50,000 would meet the ends of justice,” he said, directing Faridabad-based Dr R.K. Mathu to pay the money within 30 days.

In 2000, another surgery was performed on him at Daffodil Medical Centre in West Bengal in which the doctors found cotton bone chips inside the wound.