An Indo-Canadian, who was left paralysed after a hospital failed to diagnose his spinal tuberculosis, has been awarded a whopping half a million dollars in damages by a Canadian court.
The British Columbia Supreme Court ordered a state hospital to pay Canadian dollars 596,408 (USD 512,700) damages to Shawn Kahlon, 41, and his wife Michelle of Vancouver for medical negligence almost a decade ago.
In addition, the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre was also asked to pay 242,500 dollars annually for 17 years for attendant care, rehabilitation therapy and swallowing therapy to Kahlon.
Kahlon, a teacher, had reported lower-back pain in 1999 and his family doctor sent him to a radiologist to undergo a CT scan. When the first scan indicated some abnormalities, the radiologist asked Kahlon to come for a follow-up scan but he never returned thinking that the pain will go on its own.
The radiologist's office did not follow up the first CT scan and failed to notify his family doctor about the results as films of the CT scan were misfiled.
{{/usCountry}}The radiologist's office did not follow up the first CT scan and failed to notify his family doctor about the results as films of the CT scan were misfiled.
{{/usCountry}}Films from his first CT scan were found after a year and Kahlon was diagnosed with TB meningitis but his condition had deteriorated, leaving him with cognitive impairment for life.
The court ruled that the scan should have triggered an investigation that would have led to a diagnosis of spinal TB meningitis which if treated immediately would have enabled Kahlon to make a complete recovery.