Gujarat: Patient Dies After Doctor Removes Kidney Instead Of Stone; Hospital To Pay Rs 11 Lakh
In a shocking incident, a doctor removed a patient's left kidney instead of stones at KMG General Hospital in Balasinor, Gujarat.The patient who was admitted at the hospital for removal of kidney stones, died four months after the operation took place in 2011.
10 years later, the Gujarat State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission has now asked the hospital to pay Rs 11.23 lakh as compensation to the deceased patient's family.
What had happened?
According to a report in Times of India, Devendrabhai Raval from Vanghroli village of Kheda district consulted Dr Shivubhai Patel of KMG General Hospital in Balasinor town for severe back pain and difficulty during passing urine. In May 2011, Raval was diagnosed with a 14 mm stone in his left kidney.
However, Raval was advised to go to a better facility, but he chose to undergo surgery in the same hospital. He was operated upon on September 3, 2011. The family was surprised when the doctor after the surgery said that instead of the stone, the kidney had to be removed. The doctor cited it was done in the best interest of the patient.
Later on, when the patient began having greater problems in passing urine, he was advised to shift to a kidney hospital in Nadiad. But his condition deteriorated further, and he was taken to IKDRC in Ahmedabad. He succumbed to renal complications on January 8, 2012.
Minaben, Raval¡¯s widow, approached the Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission at Nadiad, which in 2012 ordered the doctor, the hospital and the United India Insurance Co Ltd to pay compensation of Rs 11.23 lakh to the widow for the medical negligence.?
What did the consumer court say?
According to the report, the consumer court held that the hospital has vicarious liability for the negligent act of its employee, in this case the operating doctor.
"The employer is responsible not only for his own acts or commission and omission, but also for the negligence of its employees so long as the act occurs within the course and scope of the employment. This liability is according to the principle of ¡®respondent superior¡¯ meaning ¡®let the master answer¡¯," the court observed.
The court has ordered that the hospital to pay compensation with 7.5% interest since 2012.
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