RAMESH JAIN Vs. JAGROOP SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) -THIS revision petition has been filed against order dated 25. 10. 2002 passed by Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Punjab, Chandigarh (hereinafter referred to as the State Commission) in Appeal No. 145/2000 vide which order dated 24. 12. 1999 passed by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Ludhiana (hereinafter referred to as the District Forum) in Complaint No. 520/97 dismissing the complaint of the respondents herein has been set aside and the petitioners have been directed to pay a sum of Rs. 4,50,000 to the respondents/ complainants as compensation. Brief facts of the case are that Jagroop Singh along with his two minor sons Harjodh Singh and Ramandeep Singh filed the complaint stated above before the District Forum at Ludhiana alleging therein that Dr. Ramesh Jain, petitioner/opposite party was consulted by Jagroop Singh during the first week of June 1997 about his wife Narinder Kaur missing her monthly periods. After check-up, the doctor advised C. T. Scan of Narinder Kaur which was also undertaken in Dr. Jain's Hospital. After examination of the film of the scan, Dr. Jain informed Jagroop Singh, complainant that his wife was 4 months pregnant and advised her to get the pregnancy terminated assuring him that he had all the necessary equipments and facilities to undertake such abortion operations.

(2.) NARINDER Kaur thereafter was admitted in the hospital on 7. 6. 1997. She was administered glucose injection and other medicines for about 10 days whereafter abortion/dnc operation was undertaken. On 19. 6. 1997, she was informed that the operation was successful and discharged. However, within two days of the discharge, Narinder Kaur started running high fever and abdominal pain. Dr. Jain on being contacted changed the medicines but of no avail. On request, Dr. Jain visited the patient in the village on 27. 6. 1997 and advised re-admission for a second operation. Patient was admitted on 28. 6. 1997 and an ultrasound scan was undertaken. On 1. 7. 1997 another operation was performed which required four units of blood transfusion. It was admitted by Dr. Jain that a pipe had been cut during the first operation necessitating the second one. Condition of the patient, however, did not improve and all of a sudden on 3. 7. 1997, Dr. Jain advised shifting of the patient to Mohandai Oswal Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation and Hospital (hereinafter referred to as Oswal Hospital), Ludhiana where his brother-in-law Dr. Satish Jain was posted. On the request of the respondent No. 1, Dr. Jain accompanied them to the hospital at Ludhiana. The condition of Narinder Kaur, however, not only did not improve but also further deteriorated resulting in the doctors expressing their inability to handle the case and she was discharged on 5. 7. 1997.

(3.) RESPONDENT No. 1, thereafter, got the patient admitted in Dayanand Medical College Hospital on 7. 7. 1997 where despite best possible treatment, the patient expired on 15. 7. 1997 due to infection in the body resulting in poison spreading in the body and some vital pipeline having been damaged during the operation as informed by the Dayanand Hospital doctors. Post-mortem of the body of Narinder Kaur was performed on the same day by attending doctors at Civil Hospital, Jagraon. The post-mortem report stated the cause of death to be : "due to septicemia arising from peritonitis as a result of uterine perforation and is sufficient to cause death".