SADANAND RAWAL Vs. STATE OF U P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) -The present complaint is filed by Shri Sadanand Rawal, husband of the deceased. Smt. Uma Rawal against six opposite parties alleging medical negligence. Among the six impleaded parties, two parties i.e., O.P. No. 1, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and O.P. No. 2, the Director General, Medical Education, Lucknow have been deleted during the course of proceedings. O.P. No. 3 Principal, GSVM Medical College, Kanpur, U.P. has not filed written version and hence is proceeded ex parte. For the consideration of the present case, the following parties are relevant which are O.P. No. 4, Dr. (Mrs.) Savita Luthra, O.P. No. 5, Dr. S.K. Luthra, both of Suraj Nursing Home and O.P. No. 6, Dr. Kiran Mehrotra, Head of the Department of Anesthesia, GSVM Medical College, Kanpur, U.P., who acted as the Anesthetist during the operation. Facts of the case are: Mrs. Uma Rawal consulted Dr. S.K. Luthra, O.P. No. 5 for some stomach complaint. Dr. S.K. Luthra informed the complainant and his wife that she had to be operated upon for removal of stones from the gall bladder. She was admitted on 24.10.1997 at about 9.00 a.m. in Suraj Nursing Home which is owned by O.P. Nos. 4 and 5. At the time of admission Mrs. Uma Rawal was having no adverse past medical history and all the test reports were normal including B.P., E.C.G., blood sugar, etc. She was informed that the gall bladder shall be removed by using the most modern technique by laser and the total time for operation shall only be 30 to 45 minutes. Mrs. Rawal was shifted to operation theatre at 10 a.m. on 24.10.1997 and it is alleged that operation lasted for five hours. At about 3 p.m. she was shifted to Regency Hospital Ltd. and the admission report of this hospital shows that she was having hypertension and could not be reversed from anesthesia. On 15.11.1997 she was shifted to PGI Hospital at Lucknow where she died. On 8.12.1997 in the death certificate it has been mentioned that her case was of hypoxic brain damage and that death was due to Cardio Respiratory Arrest at 11.30 a.m. It is alleged by the complainant that his wife went into coma during the operation at Suraj Nursing Home as a result of negligence of Dr. Kiran Mehrotra, O.P. No. 6 and that the hospital owners O.Ps. 4 and 5 and Dr. Luthra had performed the operation and Dr. Kiran Mehrotra jointly and severally liable for medical negligence.

(2.) The case of the complainant is that his wife was given excessive dosage of atropine and other drugs by the Anesthetist leading to brain damage. As regards to the amount of compensation, it is argued that Mrs. Uma Rawal was a business woman and a tax payee since 1981. The complainant states that he was put to heavy financial loss due to demise of his wife and he himself had two cardiac arrests. It is also stated that he had to ultimately give up the business which she was running. He claimed Rs. 55 lakh of compensation by the financial, emotional loss that he suffered due to negligence, inefficiency and carelessness of the Doctors. It is also stated that the deceased was only 55 years old at the time of her death and had a life span of more than 20 years. Being a successful entrepreneur in her own right who carried business on her own, it is argued that the compensation that has been claimed is justified.

(3.) The case of the respondents 4, 5 and 6 is common and is that anesthesia and the drugs administered during operation are according to the standard medical practice and the dosage was not at all excessive and that the operation was successful; that the patient was reversed from anesthesia after the operation at 12.20 p.m. It is argued that 25 minutes later i.e., at about 12.45 p.m., the patient developed respiratory distress and that it has intensified by about 1.30 p.m. It is argued that this was due to pulmonary embolism which is a rare but at the same time a very major complication associated with surgery and that this pulmonary embolism resulted in pulmonary oedema. At about 2.20 p.m. she developed sudden hypotension and bradycardia. All these conditions were dealt with by administration of drugs according to the standard medical practice.