ARUL RAJ Vs. N RAMANATHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) -PETITIONER was the opposite party before the District Forum, where the respondents/complainants had filed a complaint alleging medical negligence on the part of the petitioner.

(2.) VERY briefly the facts leading to filing the complaint were that the wife of the first respondent/complainant was suffering from severe pain in stomach and chest. She was taken to the Sundaram Arulraj Hospital, where she was admitted as an in-patient on 4. 12. 1998, where she remained under treatment from 4. 12. 1998 to 9. 12. 1998. The wife of the complainant was kept in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the 2nd floor of the Hospital and she was on oxygen continuously. At 5. 00 p. m. on 9. 12. 1998 the oxygen cylinder was exhausted. There was no spare oxygen cylinder provided in the ICU. The second cylinder from the ground floor was rushed but it could not come to the second floor as the lift did not stop on the second floor and finally when the cylinder was brought it was found to be defective. Meanwhile, the patient was gasping due to lack of oxygen supply and finally she died around 6. 30 p. m. on 9. 12. 1998. It is in these circumstances that a complaint was filed before the District Forum alleging medical negligence against the petitioners. District Forum after perusal of material on record and hearing the parties held the petitioner to be medically negligent and directed as follows :

(3.) AGGRIEVED by this order, an appeal was filed, which was dismissed by the State Commission after hearing the parties at length and passing a well-reasoned order. Para 13 of the order reads as follows :