1. society
2. welfare
3. healthcare
4. hospital

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l:'ANCHI(ULA
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ComplainiN o,17 i,.i'.,u:r7
'.;,",
Dateof Institutior,r .:'1.'200'l
'
Dateof Decision -i :.1 :':il12
ajesh )lr,:nan,residentoi Viitag'
&mL.r ,i$ar(Haryanal
.lr;:P1.,,.;ianl
rtn6
.r,.+**
,*,#'iit(
Dep:.,r-,:
tft;5'''+''
of i-Iealth, civil
--.,. ,,ia at i-.i,'ndigarh.
!,,:- -:r.a,:
",:
'L
l,c-',l)ii"r,:,i ,
r-',-,,-,l.ih,
Stateof Hari'an3at i
S',:i'-iioes,
.rL-JLrrr.
'l';"','
ili,.i'l '
'q:.',i,
Disirict Yamuna
)
i-,i ii , . il j-.
Ci:lil F{ospital,Jagadhi., j-,'i:;; ;ct YamunaNagar.
T';i* rieii,i;r' ii'ri:,i:;ai Oii- .:r,:r,
trii
JagadhrD
i istrict
r r' ^iospiial, Jagadhri,
OppcsiteFarties
District Yatntma lirg-irr' :ltrougi-rits Medical
G t i b l F l o s ; - 1 , , r '':Att*tagar,
,.
rrt
Supr:iinienuir
Pu:';i Cral ,:1,,-'-'
fiistitut,.-of Medical Education a:rc i+-,;iearch.Chandisarh
, l, i'. , : .h i t s i , i r l c t o r ,S e c t o 1
i',iir.;i
i
r 2 ,C h a n d i g ai r
ii't-,
i),:;.i,i;l'a OpitositeParties
^),r,"y:_,
i5
S;lFOftE:
ii,-i,r'r;;e
Mr. .iListice
R.S.Madan,Piesidr:iil.
\,,r li.M. Belli, .iudicialMember.
313
,, I
t l
iroi the Partie:;:
+/vh
r'
Advocatelbr Comp;;.,irr,ri.
5lii'; irlin SeiiLe,i,vat,
,,...iay
.:qli:r:
Advocatefbr Cppo:;itrP:irtieslrio.1to 6.
Chiiurihary,
.;i'i:o;itePariiesNo.7 & 8 exparte.
{i,t;i,r''.rlte
Par-l;')ro.9PerformaOpposite,';"ri"
ORDE]R
-)
rhe inrrial
Complainantwas gi..'elr
Primary
by iLt"'
.il(itt,,'e11'
il!.':.,jll aS iiecessalyvaccinations
'l ll.;
fut',.liernecessaryvaccinatton
i2.)t.\iii;;,.j
.lii'
on
Health Cen.i';. K^aiarvnr
givenon01.02'200(,i.lreexpectedc]at',:oi-rj..lii\.]j.'wasg-tveilaSonorbeforewithin.
,rviiicrrwas dr-rein the month of May,2r)t')(''
es 02.0$.?005
rssessect
date
the
frorn
weeks
i'''
ieferred the comp1ai1411
iiiinalr ;r,c:-iil',ceirti.';,
ot
cio'ior:;
ihe
For fuither treatmen.i.
t'i
as on 02.09.2005and date
-uvhLele:
\,va5i;}:i:i*Ssed
l,.lvi^ir.
Civil }Iospital, Jagarliiri
offi,:er on duty. The complainaill
ils 09.0i;'200:ii;i.ii-re |,.1.:j;r.:;rl
aSSeSSi:,-l
was
delivery
as i)'ii
1.' ir$'JQsi-ior further treatment
i-[.:;t'4.a:
c;r'ii
was called to the
u-rr..r.d L.M'P' i'r
0:109':ltl05' ;'r:':r'eafi:ei
c t.iec;k-up'
21.06.2006for medicai
on23.06.20ilt,biccrlini<starior'ttctheLrlil;]]iainailtalrdduetoconstantandLl.-'i
by the Mediclil
\\l:i'"; ll;:llritted ;br delivery
compiztini:nt
rhe
stoppage of bleedrlig.
AuthoritiesatciviiLios:pital.Jagaiil,ri.she-,r'r'tsrLdmittccatll:00P'M''tltrt""u
card "Dr. Manishu11;ri:J
:iiip/Trez:tment
ries,crigtr.,:u
tht,"
'rr
;:,oiins
lhr;
oflicer on duty put
0:30.\'M
L ' Y PGIMER'
/ * ' u u " r v w v t the
n 2'+'06'2006'
on
i.e.
'e' o
day
ay 1
ssame
ame d
ccmplainantascase
wiy blrn malechiio o1'
Chandigarhto
on the wa,vftoltr PfjllviER'
furnutuNagar'
ii -.' exercisedrr:c'dical
that fhe opirosittr'-'a'f
iLi'esof Civil Hospital'
y the MedicalAr;ti-.r':;
in servlce
rfricii'tcf,rciency
inedicalnegiigence
;;;
i
,.'r'
iilale cnuu uevqruv "^-;
alleged that LlLt-
dueto the faurtof ,rr.
ultimatelv
opposiicp 'ii'ries,which
LegalNoticedated
corn''xe'ir''aii""'
the
*^of
cnila
vrru\r
male
';,e
:r
.i,,eqaililust mail
iire rle. *''i'.
11c -ilist
:.esuLtccin.;o
the
AD and UPC with
regisii;r"eil
ugh
parttes
';.rasgi..{e':tc.,rhe opposite
20.03.200,1
'i;;:-Litir:s
to compiy with
":_'_
a
. ^.^l,a*tlo -'J
"er'r,rent-{}l:I
a5-:***.-*r****"
opposite
iailed
rs etrtitled for
r:lrecoi"rtplainant
that
*'{prayer
*ift
: iriis conrpf";nt
:r.a,csforthedeathofhgrfirstrnaiechiit-i;Rs'Slacsforphysica
..\ r ,- +-^.- +Lc cVneflSgS
i''s'2 lacs tbr the expenses
qufferincs
and
an
. pain
--^:- .-,1
sufferings
andl
i-rarassmont,
we* as nreiiial tof.*rr,..
rrt'
rlr;urrv*^-^I- aL;:rr:
spent forr riieclical
[r..
Upo*
vy"^'
the
- \r^
1 tn
6 tt.''p*ot*
atlrcal'eci anct contested
to
"
No'1
parties
,to,ftr,*. ihe oppcsite
, . I *L^ ^ranqrinns
iirey denied the allegattons
lirit wrifien 'tf"*t"t
whereii'r
Last Mensli":ai
It is statedthqrtthe
is
Period of the patient
Lorigivenuy4nepatientirerscji.ilrrcli|tlreMedicaloffi
verify tht
s';'.lr": :est done to
uiiiir
get
to
pa-tientis advised
on 20'06'2006 ant
'Trr3'i'dhri
Hospi"zri'
Civil
rlaiuantcametO
of pregnancy.The ct)iilD rinani got i;er ttlha:;*i::t"'ti
ltestdone and producedthe rep'rii
.,vi s witii singi.:iive icrtr.r'i.,ir]re
mailagementfoetuswas givenol.r
which revealed37+_1
The cor:iPlairult !\,'asttlii iilcr \i!rr ljrrlqld cotrreto the hospital,if she h:r''!
21.06.2007.
labour pains or any irt'cbl rns.
'fhe
dli1 irf delivery is assessedon the basisof
e.xp;ected
1
ci;:rJ
the dateof last mensu'L'alrtrrio,i and or,li, lon <;i ti:,-:patier::s ieliver onthe expected
is givetr corr+cili i,rythe patient. It is also stated that lhc
of delivery given if rrrlo LrLticrri
expecteddateof dell''":t.Y
period and there m.i1/ i
of ti": radiologistor the assess'i';
ir r:irc.r'':rrti''L
riisu:'epan,,:-,
clinician.
On 23.06.200t- 10.3CP.M. ihe cornpiiiin{nthad come to the Civil Hospiraiby inc cioclol+rr ball duty at 11'00 P'M' and proper
Jagadhri and she wr$ r zr:iniiiecl
rel*i':urt iin1c. ilr:rp was nc Gynecologistavaiiable i;r
managementwas givtn A^tILL:LI
ii:c
'
Civil Hospital,Jagaciliri lfro could clc ilaesalciuis.:e]tionand so in caseof emergency
ri l:,fsarear, sectiondelivery' it is furih':r
i:f be i,i';'.ilcc',
seivicesof Dr. Mani;i;a ri::red
'rvas rieith,rr posteci;ts iif]edical Officer in General Hospiiai.
stated that Dr. Mailislla
Jagadhri nor a Harf iuia
caesareancasesonlY. #
the doctor on call 'lLi
Manisha,proper man$g
labour pains,the Paiicr:t
for further managejile
managementand w,-rerr
as per the informatlan
Therefore,Dr. Divf a r'
ji
furthermanagement.
Hospital, Jagadhri r:il'r
GeneralHospital, Yam
itted at Gaba i;ii
i:hli
ications,tfue-
f$
advice and the child was declaredas
child left the pGIMER Chandigar:hagainstmedical
,LAMA, (Left Against Medical Advice).
Thus, there is no medical negligenceor
parties and the death of child occuned
deficiency in service on the part of the opposite
of the child who had left the PGIMER
due to own negligenceon the part of the attenclants
merited dismirisal'
Chandigarhas "LAMA". It is pra;iedthat the complaint
respective claims' complainant
Both the parties led eviderncein support of their
and affidavit of her husband Rajesh
heLsrendered her own affidavit as Ex.CW-1/A
DhimanasEx.CW-2/Aiilongwit}rdocumentsEx'C-ltoC.29.
of Dr' Surinder Kumar Rathi
Opposite parties in their ervidencetenderedaffidavit
R2'
ar;Ex"RW-1 alongwith clocumentsas Ex'RW and
perusedthe casefile'
we have heard l,:arnedcc,unselfor the parties and
date of delivery given by
The grievance of the cornplainant is that the expected
pfoper and also that she remained
the Doctors at Civil l{ospital, Jagadhri was not
the caseof the complainant that as per
unattendedat civil Hospital, Jag,adhri.It is further
shehad given birth
the Doctors of Gaba Hospital, Jagadhriwhere
it was a
to her first male child'
,over period clelil,ery' due to which there was complicationto the newly born
had referred
ch'd and for that reas.n the Doctors at Gaba Hospitar
the newly born baby
topGlMER,Chandigarhasthechildwashavingsomerespiratoryproblembutchild
died.
Takingintocorrsideratic,nthefactsandcircumstancesofthecase'wehardlyfind
and deficient
any ground to hold the opposite parties negligent
in service' It has come on
as per the information
period of'the patientis assessed
the recordthat the Last Menstruar
any discrepancyby the Medical Officer'
given by the patientherself.Ho,wever,in caseof
test done to verity the facts' Admittedly' the
the patient is advised to get u.ltra sound
complainanthadcom,;tocivilHospital,Jagadhriot20'06'2006andshehaddisclose
Thus' expected date of delivery of the
her Last Menstrual Period as 02,09,2005.
32-34wee]<s
as 09.06.2006'Her per abdomenfindings showed
complainantwas asserssed"
gef:'lheu
examination,the complainantwas advisedto
nd test done''in order fo
. " J
J!+ae-'.,--
lt
assessthe period of pregnan,oy.A.fter getting her ultrasoundtest, the complainanthad
prorlucedthe report which revealecl37+3 vys.ks with single live foetus,due management
'lil're
foetus was given on 2I.0r5.20t06. complainantwas told that she should come to the
hospital, if she had labour pains or any problems. The expected date of delivery is
assessed
on the basis of the date of last menstrualperiod. It has also come on the record
that only 4Voof the patien,tsdeliverron the expecteddate of delivery given if information
is given correctly by the patient. On 23.06.2006the complainant had come to Civil
Hospital Jagadhriat 10.30P.ltl. and shewas examinedby the doctor on call duty at 11,00
P.M. and proper managemerLtwas given. As Gynecologistwas not available in Civil
Hor;pital,Jagadhriwho could do Caesareansection and therefore in oaseof emergency
the servicesof Dr. Manisha used t,obe availedfor Caesareansectiondelivery. However,
Dr. Manisha was neither posted ai; Medical Officer in GeneralHospital, Jagadhrinor a
HaryanaGovernmentErnployeearLdsheusedto be called for emergencycaesarean
cases
Di. tr,{anishawas not avaiiabie. Fiowever,the ciocior on duty
onl'i. Bu; or,23.C.5.2C05
after consultationtelephonicallywith Dr. Manisha,had given proper managementto the
complainant.Due to norl-progression
of labour pains,the patient was referredby opposite
party No.5 to oppositeparty -Dr. t)ivya for further management.Accordingly, Dr. Divya
attendedthe patient for further marlagementand when there was non clescentof head she
contracted Dr. Manisha, who as per the information given by on duty staff nurse
Parimjeet, was not avail'able.Therefore,Dr, Divya referred the cornplainantto Civil
Horipital,Yamuna Nagar for
rther management.Thus, it is not establishedthat the the
complainantremained unattendedat Civil Hospital, Jagadhri.It has also come on the
recordthat the complainart was relerredto Generalllospital, YamurraNagar but shewas
got admitted by her attenclantrs
at (iaba Hospital, Jagadhri where a male child bom alive.
the child was referred to PGIMER Chandigarh,As per
But due to some complic'atio:ns,
the record gf PGIMER Charrdigarhthe attendantsof the child had left the PGIMER,
).
Thds, in 'view of the facts and circumstancesof the casewe do not
findl,bvenan ioth of evidenceon the recordto establishit a caseof any kind of medical
r.{
in sen'ice.There is no evidenceon be.halfof the complainant
negligenceand deficiLenc,v
in the shapeof affidavit of the attendingDoctors at Gaba Hospital, to say againstthe
oppositeparties.In fact the grievanceof the compiainantis on accountof deathof her
neu'lv born male chilld and as per evidenceavailableon the record,the newly born child
died due to own ner3ligr:lceon the part of the attendantswho had left the PGIMER,
Chandigarhagainstthe naedicaladvice.AnnexureC-9
'OUT PAIIIENT TICKET' issued
clearly showsthat the patient (minor child) was declaredas a
from PGIMER, CharLdigarh
case of 'LAMA'.
T'hus, uncler the facts and circumstancesof the case, no medical
negligenceand deficiency in serviceagainstthe oppositepartieshas been establishedon
the record in view olf the observationmade in casecited as Kusum Strarma and others
versus Batra Hospital & Mledical ResearctrCentre and otlhers,2010 ACJ 1444,
whereintheir Lordship of the Hon'ble SupremeCor:rt have discussedthe basicprinciples
with respectto the medicalnegligenceas under:-
.6/1 \
Ilcgligenr;e isthe breacirof a duty exercisedby ornissionto do something
whictr a reasonableman, guided by those considerationswhich ordinarily
regulate the conduct of human affairs, would clo, or doing something
whictLa prudentand reasonableman would not do.
(r)
Negligen,;eis an essentialingredientof the offence.The negligenceto be
establishedby' the'prosecution must be culpable or gloss and not the
neglligencemerely basedupon an error ofjudgment.
(IID
The rnedjcalprofessionalis expectedto bring a reasonabledegreeof skill
and knowledgeand must exercisea reasonabledegreeof care.Neither the
very lhiglLestnor a very low degreeof care and competencejudged in the
of eachcaseis what the law requires.
light,rf the particularcircumstances
(iV)
A medical practitionerwould be liable only where his conductfell below
of a reasonablycompetentpractitionerin his field.
that of th,gstarLdards
(V)
In the realm of diagnosis and treatment there is scope for genuine
differenceof opinion and one professionaldoctor is clearly not negligent
mereJ,ybecalrsehis conciusion differs from that of other professional
doctor.
(VD
The rnedicalprofessionalis often called upon to adopt a procedurewhich
invglves higher element of risk, but which he honestly believes as
pro'vidin15greater chances of success for the patient rather than a
procedureinv,rlving lesserrisk but higher chancesot-'failure.Just because
lookingto the gravityof illness
a professional
the patientout of his/hersu
risk to re,deern
to negligen"f'"/'
resultmaynot amounl.
desirrrd
+jii: .
(VID
camot be attributed
th reasonableskill and
Onecourseof action in
l - r - r : 2 h r , . i. r + '
\voulil
i tl ii ,i':'
)
iv i'I,
dr:ctirr
i'
i:: il
il.r.:':.li
the; +:
".
petence. Merely becausethe doctor
to the other one available,he
-!rrq:,il!i b.i
J:in: w:*
xi=::tah!*
rl] l,i' ;iSSi,'
, . i : 1 1 1 - Ir i - i i i : i
r r, I
r,: , ar.l
:.
..:,,
a doctor so long as he performshis
.',
;.i-l |-jir'
J t c t ; ' r e . , i- . 1 , , -
. . , r , i r i . ' . aj t - , r if : n i i g . t ,
, i . : , 1 : - ] .r i j . : , i r l i l
:,'l"r',
I ir-'ir
l.ir-,i E:-il
r-'r" ll'"rtinnn
rr, : -
r t_i ..,:
l
(VD
Negligence cannot be attributed to a doctor so long as he p*f6#,
ili,
duties with reasonableskill and competence.Merely becapsethe doctor
choosesone courseof action in preferenceto the other oni available,he
would n,ctbe liable if the courseof action chosenby him was acceptable
to the medicalprofession.
(VIII) It would not be coirduciveto the efficiency of the medical
Orot rrror rrno
doctor c<luldaCministermedicinewithout a halter rou.ndhii neck.
(IX)
trtis our boundenduty and ob.tigationof the civil societyto ensurethat tfie
rnedical prollessionalsare not.unnecessaryharassedor humiliated so that
they can perform their professionalduties without fear and apprehension.
(X)
The medical pracrtitioners
at times also have to be savedfrom.such a class
of complainants'ruhouse criminal processas a tool for pressurizingthe
medicai prof'essionals/hospitals
particularly private hospitalsor clinics for
ensation.Suchmalicious proceedingsdeserve
edicalpractitioners.
re entitled to get protection so long as they
easonableskili and competenceand in the
nterest and welfare of the patients have to be
ofbssionals."
,;
,
In Eatra Hosp,ital A n'f)dieqff,.esearchCentre and others, case
ts.rpruj it has
. 4 .
\
beenobservedthat the negligenceto Ueeihl>lish{l by the prosecuti.on
must be ,utpiUte
-
t a
or gross and not the nerglip;ence
merely basedupon an\error of judgment. Merely, the
doctor failed to cure the disease,cannotbe a caseof medical negligenceor deficiency
in
se:rvice.None of the above mentionedingredientshave beenproved.by the complainant
in this case.
In casecited as Molnd. A.brar versus Dr. Ashok Desai and others, 2011 CTJ
613 (cP) (NCDRC) Ho.n'bleNational commission has observedas under:-
.
"The meclicalpractitionerscannot be treatedas magir;iansor demi-Gods.
They are fallible human beings. The liability to pay compensationmay
arise only' when the complainantproves that the causationwas result of
negiigence committed by the medical practitioner and there was clear
materialavailableto foreseethe injury."
Hon'ble NationalCommissionin casecitedas Smt. Sajini, Major Versus Chaya
Nursing Home & Ors, ,1012(1)CPR 111 (NC) hasobservedthat medicalcomplications
cannotalways lead to iirfbrerrceof medicalnegligence.
a recentjudgrrLentcited as Smt. Narangiben SubodhchandraShah through
versus Gujarrat Research and Medical Institute popularly known as
.:Yr
-.
[i _\.'l
RajasthanHospital & Ors, 2012Q)CPR I 2 (NC), Hon'ble National Commissionhas
observedthat every medical failure is nol
As a seqtuelto our aforesaid
negligenceor deficiency in serviceon the
ild ocburreddue to own negligenceon
ical negligence.
ion, we find that there is no medical
of"the opposite parties and the death ol
part of the attendantsof the child who had
PGIMER Chandigarhas "LAMA"
sdl-
J u s t i c eR . S -M a d a n '
Fresicient.
Arurounced:
23.11,.2012
Certifiel
true caPy
{
Suneri
Slatr C
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Rf,lresl;. 'l
tta{./ afl a r' :'r--lrc,itki**
t\\
sdlB' [Jl'Bedi
JudicialMember