The Delhi State Consumer Commission saddled a private hospital with punitive costs of Rs 30 lakh.The reason is that a pharmacist had carried out a delivery of a baby, and left a needle in the patient’s body in the process.
Describing the act as being “negligent” and “deficient in service”, the consumer watchdog added that the medical centre had erred further by manipulating records to prove a qualified doctor had delivered the baby instead of the pharmacist.
“Instead of employing a qualified doctor who draws a salary around Rs 2 lakh, the hospital is getting the job done by a pharmacist. How many such episiotomy wounds (surgical cut made to ease a difficult delivery) have been stitched by pharmacist Dr Raheen is anybody’s guess,” noted commission members NP Kaushik and Salma Noor.
The woman in question had been admitted at Shree Jeewan Hospital on September 15, 2009. When the surgical incision was being stitched after delivery, a needle was left inside the uterus. This resulted in profuse bleeding and excruciating pain even after she was moved out of the recovery room. It was only the following day that an x-ray revealed the presence of a needle inside her body.
“The bed sheets and packs were changed several times due to the profuse bleeding. No doctor paid any heed to the excessive bleeding and unbearable pain,” the patient had argued through her counsel.
The consumer body agreed. “There is nothing on record to show that the hospital authorities told the patient or her attendants after the delivery that a needle had been left in the body of the patient,” noted the commission. The panel said that the x-ray depicted a round needle with a sharpened end and added, “Had it been a straight needle, it could have travelled to other parts of the body and caused serious problems.”
When the matter was referred to Delhi Medical Council, it opined that needles did occasionally break during the closing of surgical cuts and the hospital had reported normal blood pressure and pulse rates, indicating that the needle had not causes excessive bleeding or mental agony.
A post-delivery ultrasound also showed experts that the patient’s uterus had turned backwards, due to which she would not be able to conceive again. The consumer panel imposed Rs 30 lakh as cost for negligence and deficient service and asked Shree Jeewan Hospital to deposit the money in the Consumer Welfare Fund maintained by the commission.
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