CHAITHANYA NURSING HOME Vs. P. PUTTARAJU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Being aggrieved by the order of Karnataka State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Bangalore (hereinafter referred to as the State Commission) in Complaint No. 71 of 2006, four separate First Appeals have been filed. First Appeals No. 142 of 2006, 185 of 2006, 197 of 2006 and 347 of 2007 have been filed by the Opposite Parties before the State Commission, namely, M/s Chaithanya Nursing Home, M/s Mallya Hospital and Dr. H.B. Chandrashekhar & others respectively. The fourth appeal has been filed by Complainants Shri P. Puttaraju and his wife Smt. Vijayalakshmi for enhancement of the compensation awarded by the State Commission.

(2.) Since the facts and the parties in all the four appeals are common/similar arising out of the same consumer dispute, it is proposed to dispose of these appeals by one common order by taking the facts from First Appeal No. 142 of 2006. The parties will be referred to in the manner in which they were referred to in the complaint i.e. Chaithanya Nursing Home and Dr. S.M. Patil as OPs No.1 and 2; Mallya Hospital as OP No.3 and its Doctors i.e. Dr. H.B. Chandrasekhar (Chest Specialist), Dr. R. Srinivas (Pulmonary Specialist), Dr. P.T. Acharya (Neuro Surgeon), Dr. S. Sundar (Nephrologist) and Dr. Keshav (Cardiologist) as OPs No. 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 respectively.

(3.) Shri P. Putturaju and his wife Smt. Vijayalakshmi in their written complaint had contended that on the intervening night of 19/20.10.1999 at about 1.30 a.m. their son P.Rajashekhar (hereinafter referred to as the Patient), who was a final year medical student, had a fall, which resulted in a head injury and he was admitted to Chaithanya Nursing Home/OP-1 for treatment of the same. After being administered medicines and injections including for epilepsy from which the Patient did not suffer, he was sent to Mallya Hospital/OP-3 for a CT Scan at about 2.30 a.m. Next day, his renal condition was assessed after Complainants had complained that their son had no urine output but he was not treated for the same nor was he referred to any other medical institute for Haemodialysis. This situation led to prolonged congestive cardiac failure, pulmonary oedema and multiple organ failure, which was wrongly diagnosed as viral pneumonia or Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). After the Patient went into full respiratory distress, he was referred to Mallya Hospital/OP-3 on 21.10.1999, where due to multi organ failure he passed away on 28.10.1999. Being aggrieved by the medical negligence and deficiency in service because of which the Complainants highly promising and only son, who would have become a doctor, had an untimely demise, Complainants filed a complaint before the State Commission and requested that the Opposite Parties be directed to pay them jointly and severally a compensation of Rs.19 Lakhs.