SOMA GHOSH vs DIRECTOR, PEERLESS HOSPITAL And B.K. ROY RESEARCH CENTRE

THE petitioner is one Mrs. Soma Ghosh. She has instituted this case for self and on behalf of her minor son Master Souvik Ghosh. THE opposite parties are Peerless Hospital and B.K. Roy Research Centre and the doctors attached to the said hospital. She has approached this Commission claiming compensation for a total sum of Rupees Nineteen Lacs Sixty Thousand for the untimely death of her husband Late Shankar Chandra Ghosh. THE deceased Shankar Chandra Ghosh was admitted in the said Hospital on 6.1.1996 and was under treatment there till 19.2.1996 when he expired. According to the complainant she had incurred a total expenditure of Rs. 69,332.00 towards medical treatment of her husband. She alleges that the opposite parties failed to diagnose the disease properly but carried out useless investigations which were not necessary. She alleges that the surgical instruments and the syringes/needles which were used to treat the patient were infected with viral/serum jaundice from the hospital. She alleges further that because of lack of proper care bed sore developed. On admission the patient was not suffering from serum jaundice when serum billirubin was normal. THE patient was treated for some other disease as the attending Doctors failed to diagnose the disease correctly. She states that blood transfusion caused serum jaundice and this shows sheer negligence and lack of proper professional knowledge on the part of the medical and paramedical staff. Accordingly she has brought this case claiming compensation for self and her minor son.

THE case is contested by the opposite parties by filing written statements. According to the opposite parties the patient Shankar Ghosh, since deceased was admitted to the hospital with swelling of abdomen, swelling of legs, diminished urine output and profuse discharge from fistula tracks. He was diagnosed as suffering from fistulous crohn''s disease from 1987 and had undergone an emergency laparatomy for intestinal obstruction elsewhere. THE said patient, on examination was found extremely sick with distended abdomen and discharging multiple tracks, having oedema of his legs with pallor. THE patient was losing large amount of protein from his fistulous tracks and was vomiting, so he was duly treated with I.V. fluid, anti-biotic and I.V. albumin. Every attempt to start oral feeding led to abnormal distension and vomiting. So the said patient was shifted to I.T.U. when his condition became unstable. His condition deteriorated despite all possible care, treatment and became critical because of hypertension, faeculent urine and jaundice. A surgeon was consulted but he was not found fit to undergo operation. THE patient eventually developed multiorgan failure and other associate problems which commonly occurred in such a critical case. Finally the patient died due to cardio-respiratory failure. THE patient was given due treatment and care and required investigations were done. According to the opposite parties jaundice and associated lever and kidney problems appear to be usual phenomena in crohn''s disease. They denied that the patient was infected with virus causing jaundice during his stay in hospital. Rather the study of investigation reports indicates that he was infected with jaundice prior to admission or that the patient was hepatitis B carrier. They denied that bed sore developed because of lack of nursing care. According to the opposite parties the bed sore is a sequel to crohn''s disease. So they pray for the dismissal of the case.

O.P. No. 5 is the Insurance Company. They state that the hospital is covered under a policy of insurance and the indemnity limit during the policy period was Rupees Forty Lacs and the indemnity limit per person was not exceeding 25% of the above limit.

THE patient Shankar Ghosh since deceased was aged 36 years. In the year 1987 he had undergone an operation for intestinal obstruction and other problems. THE pathological examination by the Calcutta Medical Centre shows that the patient was suffering from crohn''s disease. THE report is dated 23.2.1987. On admission in the O.P. hospital he was diagnosed as suffering from crohn''s disease. A series of investigations were carried out and necessary treatment was done. THE main allegation of the petitioner is that the patient was not suffering from serum jaundice. Surgical instruments, needles, transfusions were infected with viral/serum jaundice and so the patient was infected with serum jaundice in the hospital. It has been alleged that Dr. Kar Purakayastha could not diagnose the real disease and the nursing care was sub-standard. It is noticed that the allegations are merely bald allegations without any medically accepted evidence. Mere question of probability as indicated by the petitioner is not enough to hold the opposite parties negligent. THE opposite parties state that the jaundice associated with affected lever and kidney complication is common phenomenon in crohn''s disease. THE patient was admitted in the hospital with crohn''s disease with all its common complications. He had childhood jaundice. Previous treatment papers also disclose that the patient was suffering from crohn''s disease from 1986 and had been operated in 1989 and after that again there was recurrence of fistula due to crohn''s disease in 1994. THE treatment record of 31.1.1996 reveals that he was referred to Surgeon Dr. Abhijit Chatterjee who also examined him and the condition of the patient being critical, he was transferred to ICCU. It has been claimed by the opposite parties that there has been multi-organ failure. THE learned Counsel for the opposite party submits that the allegations are only surmises and conjectures. Unfortunate though it is, it cannot be said from the materials on record that there was deficiency in service. THE Doctors tried their best to save the life of the patient but they did not succeed. THE patient was a known patient of crohn''s disease. He was 36 years of age and his weight was only 42 kg. Having considered all the facts and substances and the materials on record we cannot find any deficiency in service on the part of the opposite parties. The petitioners have failed utterly to substantiate the allegation levelled against the opposite parties. The condition of the patient was very critical even on the date of admission and series of investigation were undertaken, blood transfusion done, but even then his life could not be saved. It has been alleged that because of lack of nursing care the bed sores developed. But here again there is no evidence to sustain the allegation. The opposite parties state that the bed sores might have developed because of crohn'' s disease which affects the skin as well. There has been multi-organ failure resulting in the death of the patient. We think that the opposite parties cannot be held responsible in any manner. Consequently the case fails and is dismissed. Complaint dismissed.