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Judgment
Dr. S. M. Kantikar, Presiding Member
The Appellant has filed the instant Appeal under section 19 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (in short “the Act”), against the Order dated 23.12.2016 passed by the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Maharashtra (hereinafter referred to as the “State Commission”) in Consumer Complaint No. 220 of 2010, wherein the State Commission partly allowed the Complaint.
The issue at hand is alleged medical negligence involving an erroneous blood transfusion. Tragically, the patient received an incorrect blood type, leading to her untimely demise.
The brief facts that on 05.02.2009 Jyoti Pagare, the wife of the Complainant (referred to as the 'patient'), was admitted to Sidhhi Intensive Care & Dialysis Centre under the care of Dr. Satish D. Bhoir (referred to as the 'OP') with the symptoms of fever and cold. Initially, the patient was examined by RMO Dr. Ashok Shukla and shifted her to the ICU and started IV medication. At around 5 am, the RMO requested the Complainant to bring two bags of blood from the hospital's blood storage centre. It was alleged that blood transfusion was done without proper testing. One blood bag showed leakage but it was resealed and again administered. During blood transfusion the patient's sister noticed oozing of blood from her nose, mouth, and eyes. As the complainant received a distressing phone call , he rushed the hospital, where he found condition of his wife was very critical. Neither the RMO nor the concerned sister was present in the patient's room during the blood transfusion. Later on Dr. Satish Bhoir (OP) arrived, he after examination declared her dead. It was also alleged that during that time, the RMO insisted the Complainant to sign certain papers. Being aggrieved due to carelessness and deficiency in services, the Complainant filed a Consumer Complaint before the State Commission seeking compensation of Rs.50/- Lac.
The OP filed his written version and denied any negligence or deficiency on his part. He submitted that the complainant is not a Consumer, as under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The patient’s condition was very critical to save when she was brought to the hospital.
The State Commission partly allowed the complaint with the costs of Rs.20,000/- and directed the OP to pay Rs.10,20,000/- as compensation within two months from the date of the order, in default, amount will carry interest @12% p.a. till realisation.
Being aggrieved by the impugned Order of the State Commission, the OP/ Appellant has filed the instant Appeal before this Commission.
Heard the arguments from the learned Counsel on both the sides and perused the material on record.
It is evident that few minutes after transfusion of blood, the condition of patient became serious and she expired. The OP has not filed record from the hospital’s Blood Storage Centre and the details of blood which was transfused. The contention of OP is not acceptable who submitted that due to very serious condition, it was humanly impossible for any doctor to save the patient. Dr. Ashish Surendra Bhosale filed an affidavit in support of the OP, but surprisingly it is pertinent to note that he never saw the patient. The patient was admitted at 2.30 a.m., though despite serious condition Dr. Bhoir (OP) didn’t attend immediately, but he came to the hospital in the morning at about 9.00 a.m. The glaring deficiency that the patient was left in a very casual manner upon RMO Dr. Shukla who was B.A.M.S. There was no competent person available in the blood storage sample to cross match. Moreover, the technician Mr. John and Ms. Sarika were not licenced as blood technicians.
He also argued that the Complainant had filed complaints with various authorities such as the FDA, SBTC, and Joint Commissioner in Thane. These authorities conducted investigations and found the entire hospital to be negligent and operating unlawfully. They discovered incompetence in handling blood storage, preservation, and issuance, as well as manipulation of serial numbers for personal gain. The authorities promptly filed an FIR with the Shivaji Nagar Police station in Ambarnath, charging Dr. Satish Bhoir and other staff members with offenses under various sections of the IPC, Drugs & Cosmetic Act, and related regulations. The charge of Section 201 for destroying evidence was also included. The counsel asserted that these actions demonstrate that the hospital authorities, especially Dr. Satish Bhoir as the overall in-charge, are responsible for the untimely death of the Complainant's wife, Jyoti Pagare.
The PM was performed and as per the histopathology report from J.J. Hospital, the cause of death was "Pyogenic Meningitis and Pulmonary Haemorrhagic Infarction". In my view, due to transfusion reaction from administration of wrong blood, there was haemorrhage with oozing of blood from nose, ear and mouth. It was the medical negligence and deficiency in service attributed to the OP.
It is pertinent to note that Dr. Jayashree Sharma, Professor and HOD of Transfusion Medicine, KEM Hospital, Parel issued a report/certificated dated 24.03.2009 to the Joint Commissioner of Konkan Division (Food and Drug Administration) stated that the cause of death could be due to Thrombo-Cytopenia resulting from a febrile illness leading to bleeding, hypotension, and death. In my view, this certificate will not come to the rescue of the Appellant for the reasons and deficiencies discussed in Para—8-9 above. It is also evident that the OP manipulated records and tried to destroy the evidence.
Based on the foregoing discussion, to conclude, there is no merit in the instant Appeal and I don’t find any need to interfere in the reasoned of the State Commission. Same is affirmed.
The parties to bear their own cost.