Court tells doctors to pay for leaving gauge wire in body

NEW DELHI: A consumer court ruled in favour of a patient who was seeking compensation for the medical trauma that he underwent after a gauge wire was left inside his body during surgery.
Medical negligence is usually tough to prove. Unless it can be established that the medical practitioner did not act with sufficient care and skill, it cannot be stated that the medical practitioner is guilty of negligence.
The court comprising judges G D Dhanuka, Nargis Rajkumar and R N Bansal ordered the Pamposh Medicare Centre and surgeon, Dr Anil Nadir, to pay Rs 91,860 to the complainant for leaving a foreign object inside his body during surgery.
According to the court, the negligence was implicitly accepted by the accused as a sum of Rs 23,000 was paid to the complainant towards the cost of corrective surgery.
Dullu met with an accident on November 2, 1995. He was admitted to Pamposh Medicare Centre on November 13, where Nadir advised him to undergo surgery as there was fracture in the neck of the left femur (thighbone). He was discharged four days later.
On January 4, 1996, he returned for a check up. An X-ray was conducted and he was told that everything was normal. However, on January 7, the complainant noticed blood in his urine. He also reportedly experienced severe pain in the lower abdomen and right thigh. He immediately contacted Nadir, who told him that the pain could be due to infection and prescribed him antibiotics. On February 10, he was issued a fitness certificate.
The pain, however, did not subside and traces of blood continued to show. A second X-ray report showed a guide wire running across from the left hip joint area to the right thigh area through the pelvis. A repeat ultrasound test was done which showed that the guide wire existed in the urinary bladder of the complainant. The guide had reportedly been left by Nadir during surgery. The complainant also alleged that the earlier X-ray also reflected the wire, but the fact was concealed by the accused. The complainant reportedly went to another doctor and a corrective surgery was performed on February 21, 1996.
The plaintiffs, in their reply denied any negligence. They, however, admitted to the presence of the guide wire in the body and its removal by another doctor.
The court was also informed that they had borne the expense of Rs 23,000 for the
corrective surgery.
But holding both the nursing home and the doctor accountable, it ordered a refund of treatment expense, the amount spent on medicines and a compensation of Rs 50,000 on account of mental agony.