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- Chennai Sankara Nethralaya Child Death; NCDRC Awards Rs 1 Crore Compensation To Parents
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The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has ordered a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the parents of a 6-year-old child who lost his life due to the negligence of doctors. The case dates back to June 14, 2000, when the child’s parents took him to Sankara Nethralaya in Chennai for treatment of his eyes. During the surgery here, the child died due to the negligence of the doctors.
The child’s parents had complained about the matter to the NCDRC. On this, former Supreme Court Justice RK Agrawal gave the verdict on Friday, 26 August, who is currently the chairman of NCDRC. Dr. TS Surendran and Dr. Kannan, who treated the child, were also present during the hearing. This whole matter came to the fore on Wednesday.
The operation took place on 14 June 2000.
The parents told the commission in the complaint that when the child was taken to the hospital for eye treatment, they suggested minor surgery. When another Dr. Sujatha examined the baby the day before the surgery, she noticed a systolic ‘murmur’ (slow sound) and an abnormality in the chest wall.
After this the child was examined by cardiologist Dr. S. Bhaskaran. Who did some exercise for the child. It was then discovered that there was no murmur. He also refused to do any other tests like ECG, ECHO or chest X-ray. He declared the child fit for general anaesthesia. Then on June 14, 2000, surgeon Dr. TS Surendran was referred.
9 hours 20 minutes The child was starved
The child was taken to the hospital on an empty stomach at 9 am. He was taken to the operation theatre, around 2 pm. The complaint also alleged that the child was starved for 9 hours and 20 minutes, causing him to become hypoglycemic. The child was then given an agent called halothane for anesthesia, which is the cause of bradycardia, and atropine as a pre-medication to prevent it.
The commission accepted the negligence of the doctors
The commission did not consider starvation of the child as a significant point, but noted that the use of scoline exacerbated bradycardia already caused by halothane anaesthesia. Because of this the child died due to the negligence of the doctors.
Apart from this, according to the complaint, on the day the child was operated on, the doctors had already performed 16 operations. On this, the commission said that it was not necessary to do the surgery on the same day, this was also a big reason for negligence.
Commission ordered compensation to hospitals and doctors
The commission, while pronouncing the verdict, said that the complaint was registered under section 21 of the Consumer Protection Act 1986. Therefore, the hospital will have to pay Rs 85 lakh as compensation. At the same time, orders were given to give Rs 10 lakh to Dr. R. Kannan and Rs. 5 lakh to Dr. TS Surendran.