Medical Negligence

Negligence that killed pregnant woman costs doc couple Rs 5.6L
State Consumer C o m m i s s i o n , Ahmedabad, directed two Vadodara-based gynaecologists to pay Rs 5.6 lakh to a school teacher who lost his wife due their medical negligence. The deceased was two-month pregnant and the doctors had operated upon her without the consent of her husband.
A high school teacher in Pavi Jetpur, Kaushik Shah’s wife Kiran had been complaining of bleeding for a week. On November 28, 1999, Shah took her to Ashirwad Hospital, run by a doctor couple Hemant and Alka Patel, at Bodeli.
“The doctors, after conducting sonography on Kiran, told me that it was a case of incomplete abortion and suggested surgery. But I requested them to perform it later as there was no female family member was accompanying us on that day. Then they sent me to get an injection from a nearby medical store,” said Shah.
In Shah’s absence, the doctors took Kiran to operating theatre (OT). “Without my consent, they (doctors) took her inside OT. After several requests, a nurse finally allowed me to see Kiran. But it was too late. She was lying motionless on the table with eyes wide open. My worst nightmare came true when another doctor examined Kiran and declared her dead,” said Shah with teary eyes. “I was shocked to see my healthy wife dead in just 15 minutes. Apart from bleeding, there was no other complication. In fact, she herself had walked down to the hospital comfortably,” he said.