West Bengal

Bankura

CC/59/2018

Sri Debjyoti Banerjee - Complainant(s)

Versus

Dr. J.N Banerjee - Opp.Party(s)

Jayanta Chouwhury

19 Dec 2023

ORDER

   IN    THE   DISTRICT   CONSUMER   DISPUTES   REDRESSAL COMMISSION, BANKURA

  Consumer Complaint No. 59/2018

         Date of Filing: 05/09/2018

 

Before:                                        

1. Samiran Dutta                            Ld. President.      

2. Siddhartha Sankar Bhui            Ld. Member. 

 

For the Complainant:  Ld. Advocate Tapan De

For the O.P.:  Ld. Advocate Sayontan Chowdhury / Ld. Advocate Rupa Rani Mallick

 

Complainant  

Sri Debjyoti Banjerjee, S/o- Late Sahadeb Banerjee, Station Road, near Kalimela, P.O. & P.S.-Bishnupur, Dist-Bankura, Pin- 722122

Opposite Party 

1.Dr. J.N. Banerjee, Bankura Seva Niketan Hospital, Patpur, Jail Road, P.O., P.S. & Dist- Bankura, Pin- 722101.

2.Dr. Kingshuk Bose (M.D.), Pathology, Assistant Professor, B.S.M.C. & Hospital, Bankura, Through Superintendent, B.S.M.C. & Hospital, P.O., P.S. & Dist- Bankura, Pin- 722101.

 

FINAL ORDER / JUDGEMENT

 

Order No.51

Dated:19-12-2023

Both parties file hazira through Advocate.

Prayer for adjournment on behalf of the Complainant is considered but rejected.

The case is fixed for argument.

After hearing argument from the O.P. the Commission proceeds to dispose of the case as hereunder: -

The Complainant’s case is that his daughter Sanjali Banerjee, a school going child was admitted on 18/04/2018 at the hospital of O.P. No.1 with the complain of cough and cold and little pain in her left rib. The O.P. No.2 upon examination of sputum for AFB Blood found negative on 20/04/2018 but found positive on 21/04/2018 which signifies that the Complainant’s daughter is a patient of tuberculosis. It is alleged that though sputum test was again done on 22/04/2018 but the report was not handed over to the Complainant for the reason best known to them. Thereafter the victim patient was discharged from the O.P.  No.1/Hospital by issuing Discharge Certificateon 23/04/2018 with further advice for AFB and sputum for CBNAAT. Being confused with said contradictory report the Complainant got her daughter’s blood examined again for sputum for AFB test at Nirnoy Health Care, Bishnupur the same Doctor i.e. O.P. No.2 attached to the said Health Care found the AFB test negative (vide report dated: 24/04/2018). The Complainant did not get  any satisfactory report and accordingly he took recourse to West Bengal Clinical Establishment Act,2017 by approaching the competent authority who vide their Order dated: 13/07/2018 relying upon the report of the Pathologist, Barjora Super Speciality Hospital observed that there was no necessity for doing the test for tuberculosis as the patient was neither having any symptoms of tuberculosis nor any evidence of tuberculosis chances in chest X’ray also and moreover declaring the diagnosis tuberculosis by O.P. No.1/Hospital without any confirmatory test is a violation  of the protocol established under RNTCP and accordingly imposed a penalty of Rs.25,000/- to O.P. No.1/Hospital. The Complainant has therefore approached this Commission for adequate compensation against the O.P.Hospital/Doctors.

                                                                                                                                                                                          Contd……p/2

                                                                                                   Page: 2

Both O.P. No.1 and O.P. No.2 separately filed written version denying all the material allegations made in the petition of complaint. Their common plea of defence is that before discharging the patient on 23/04/2018 Dr. Achinta Mondal,attached to the O.P. No.1/Hospital advised for repeat sputum for AFB 3rd day and the AFB report for the 3^rd day dated: 22/04/2018 was negative. Thus no medicine for tuberculosis was prescribed for the patient who was accordingly discharged on 23/04/2018. None of the O.P.s have any medical negligence and deficiency in service in treatment of the patient and as  such the complaint case  is liable to be dismissed.

                                                                                     -: Decision with reasons: -

Having regard to the facts of the case, submission, contention and documents from both sides the Commission finds that sputum for AFB for the 1^st day on 20/04/2018 is negative but for the 2^nd day on 21/04/2018 it was  positive (vide the report Annexure-‘C’ ). No report for sputum for AFB for the 3^rd day on 22/04/2018 with negative report as claimed by the O.P. Hospital/Dr. in their written version is forthcoming on the record. According to the Complaint case the report for the 3^rd day was reserved by the O.P. / Hospital Authority. Subsequent report of sputum for AFB at Nirnoy Healthcare, Bishnupur gives the same findings as negative. No explanation is forthcoming from the O.P. side as to why they withheld the report for sputum for AFB for the 3^rd day dated: 22/04/2018. The Complainant is perhaps confused by such act and conduct of the O.P. / Hospital Authority.

Now the question is whether withholding of report is an act of medical negligence and deficiency in service.  It reveals from the record that O.P. Hospital nowhere has diagnosed tuberculosis and prescribed any medicine for the same but only report of sputum for AFB for the 2^nd day on 21/04/2018 was found to be positive and for further confirmation O.P. Dr./Hospital authority got sputum for AFB test for the 3^rd day on 22/04/2018 which came as negative. Neither of the O.P.s is medically liable for any adverse report of tuberculosis as it depends on the Pathological and Radiological observation which may be correct or may be wrong.  To remove doubt confirmatory test was done for the 3^rd day on 22/04/2018 at the instance of Dr. Achinta Mondal attached to the O.P. Hospital and the result was found to be negative. The findings of the competent authority under West Bengal Clinical Establishment Act as referred to above cannot furnish an evidence of medical negligence of the O.P. No.1 & O.P. No.2 Dr. as the penalty was imposed upon the Hospital authority for violation of protocol established under RNTCP.

                                                                                                                                                                                           Contd……p/3

                                                                                                   Page: 3

It is not a case of wrong treatment meted out to the victim patient at the instance of O.P. Dr. / Hospital but it is a case of inconsistent report for sputum for AFB to which none of the O.P.s have any contributory fault and negligence.

The Commission therefore does not find any medical negligence and deficiency in service on the part of either O.P. No.1 Dr. / Hospital and O.P. No.2 Dr. in treatment of the victim patient.                         

 

Hence it is ordered……..

That the case be and the same is dismissed on contest but without cost.

Both parties be supplied copy of this Judgement free of cost.

 

____________________                _________________         

HON’BLE   PRESIDENT          HON’BLE MEMBER