S THAMIL SELVI Vs. SOORIYA KALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a case where the mother had gone to a hospital for a delivery (non -caesarian) had to remain in the hospital for three months and eighteen days and had to undergo untold suffering and had to be taken to the operation theatre six times and had to spend lot of money for treatment. A detailed analysis of the case proves medical negligence. Case of the complainant:

(2.) ACCORDING to the complainant Mrs. S Tamil Selvi wife of Shri L P Sundaramurthy was healthy and had her medical check -up periodically with one Dr. Sooriya Kala at the opposite parties hospital for her first confinement. She complied with the instructions of the doctor who assured that the baby was alright. At the beginning of the nine month the doctor directed the complainant to meet her after fifteen days so that she could administer glucose drips to make her get the labour pain to enable her to have a normal delivery. If the normal delivery was not possible the doctor said that she will perform a caesarian operation. The complainant developed labour pains on 19.8.1995 and was admitted in Surya Hospital where Dr. Sooriya Kala examined her and said that the baby was alright and confirmed that she would have a normal delivery. As the complainant got repeated labour pains the doctor prescribed an injection costing Rs.1,500 to facilitate easy delivery and Dr. Udaya Kumar attached to the hospital, gave this injection to the complainants spinal cord. Dr Sooirya Kala came to the complainant and pressed her stomach in many ways and compelled her to strain for delivery also threatened that she will perform Caesarian operation if the child was not delivered in the normal course.

(3.) THEREAFTER the complainant was taken to the labour room, immediately the childs head appeared down in the vagina and finally the complainant had a normal delivery. Dr Sooriya Kala took the complainant to the operation theatre in a hurry and inflicted several cuts in her body rapidly without giving any medicine to benumb the pain and later on sutured the cuts. On the tenth day of her stay in the hospital the complainant came to know that Dr Sooriya Kala while cutting her body had cut her rectum tube also. The complainant was suffering from unbearable pain, blood was oozing out from the sutured wounds and the discharge was increasing day by day and emanating foul smell. Not knowing how to tide over the situation and arrest the discharge of the blood. Dr. Sooriya Kala administered glucose drips for sixteen days and made the complainant to starve without food.