DATE OF FILING : 24-06-2013.
DATE OF S/R : 20-09-2013.
DATE OF FINAL ORDER : 31-07-2014.
Mr. Sk. Gaffer,
son of Sk. Munsi,
residing at village – West Bauria Madhdyapara Chackasi,
P.O. Chackasi, District –Howrah,
PIN – 711307..-------------------------------------------------------------- COMPLAINANT.
- Versus -
1. Sanjibani Hospital,
of Sijberia, Fuleswar, Uluberia,
Howrah – 711316.
2. Dr. Ambarish Bhattacharya, M.D.,
works in Sanjibani Hospital, Sijberia, Fuleswar,
Uluberia,Howrah – 711 316.------------------------------------OPPOSITE PARTIES.
P R E S E N T
President : Shri T.K. Bhattacharya, M.A. LL.B. WBHJS.
Member : Shri P.K. Chatterjee.
Member : Smt. Jhumki Saha.
F I N A L O R D E R
1. Complainant, Sk. Gaffer, by filing a petition U/S 12 of the C .P. Act, 1986 ( as
amended up to date ) has prayed for a direction to be given upon the o.ps. to pay an amount of Rs. 8,00,000/- for wrong treatment leading to unfair trade practice, to pay Rs. 5,00,000/- towards compensation for causing harassment and mental agony along with other order or orders as the Forum may deem fit and proper.
2. Brief fact of the case is that complainant was admitted to o.p. no. 1, being the
Hospital, on 23-05-2013 with sudden pain in abdomen and vomiting under the treatment of o.p. no. 2. After thorough check-up, o.p. no. 2 came to conclusion that complainant was suffering from acute pancreatitis. It is alleged by the complainant that after observing the diagnosis report wherefrom it appeared that complainant is a known alcoholic, o.p. no. 2 started behaving in a rough and irrespectable manner towards the complainant. And it is also told by the complainant that the very disease, so detected, through medical investigation of the complainant, is common for those who have addiction to regular drinking, which is prohibited for a Haji Saheb, herein the complainant. It is further alleged by the complainant and his family that o.p. no. 2 even asked them to take away the patient, being the complainant as in such cases, they can render very little and the ultimate result is zero. On this ground, o.ps. did not take proper care and as a result, complainant did not recover even a little. Being frustrated, complainant’s family member even complainant himself did not want to remain in that hospital, being o.p. no. 1, and decided to leave on that very day, i.e., on 23-05-2013. At that time o.p. no. 1 made a huge and frivolous bill amounting to Rs. 30,000/- and asked the complainant to pay the same else complainant would not be released. So, complainant was compelled to pay the same being Annexure running pages 8 to 15 and was discharged by o.p. no. 1 on the same date at 11.58 a.m. vide Annexure Discharge Against Medical Advice ( DAMA ). O.p. no. 1 also filed fake claim form with insurance company with whom complainant has mediclaim policy. And as they mentioned in the claim form that complainant was suffering from acute alcoholic Pancreatitis, insurance company also repudiated the claim as ‘No Claim’ vide Annexure running pages 26 & 28 which is nothing but unfair trade practice adopted by o.ps. only to harass the complainant and his family members. Being highly aggrieved with the behavior of o.ps. complainant filed this instant petition before this Forum alleging deficiency in service as well as unfair trade practice against o.ps. praying for the aforesaid reliefs.
3. Notices were served. O.ps. appeared and filed written version. Accordingly, case was heard on contest.
4. Upon pleadings of both parties two points arose for determination :
i) Is there any deficiency in service on the part of the O.Ps. ?
ii) Whether the complainant is entitled to get any relief as prayed for ?
DECISION WITH REASONS :
5. Both the points are taken up together for consideration. We have carefully gone through the written version filed by o.p. nos. 1 & 2 and the reply to the questionnaire of o.p. nos. 1 & 2 filed by the complainant and noted their contents. Complainant also filed evidence on affidavit in support of his case. Denying all allegations, o.ps. no. 1 & 2 have categorically stated what steps they took since the complainant was admitted at 1.15 a.m. on 23-05-2013 till the discharge of the complainant at 11.58 a.m. on 23-05-2013. They have provided all documents of the pathological tests vide Annexure running pages 16 to 25. And under the column ‘Provisional Diagnosis’ in the discharge certificate of the complainant, the name of the disease is written as ‘Acute Pancreatitis’, not ‘Acute Alcoholic Pancreatitis’. But insurance company has mentioned in their documents as ‘Acute Alocoholic Pancreatitis’ vide Annexure nos. 27 & 28. And the 2nd hospital where complainant was admitted, namely Apollo Gleneagles Hospital has made it clear that Acute Pancreatitis does not mean Acute Alcoholic Pancreatitis. It is the sweet will of the insurance company that they have mentioned the name of the disease wrongly. The Annexure no. 8 i.e., DAMA dated 23-05-2013, the past history of the complainant is written and there it is mentioned that complainant is known alcoholic, we have also seen the ‘Treatment Note’ appearing in the same annexure. Vide paras 9 & 10. O.p. nos. 1 & 2 have elaborately described the process, procedure and tests done by them for rendering the best possible treatment to the complainant. Still complainant was not recovering and his condition was not improving even a bit. But it is also to be noted that complainant remained in that hospital only for 10 hours 43 minutes as per Annexure 9. We know doctors are next to God but they also require whole hearted co-operation of the patient and he is family members. The patient was taken away from o.ps. after giving a bond which is reflected in the ‘Treatment Note’ of Annexure 8. And the second hospital, Apollo Gleneagles also mentioned the name of the disease as ‘Acute Pancreatitis’ in Annexure running page 26. So the diagnosis made by o.p. nos 1 & 2 was correct. But recovery of a patient who was suffering from such a disease definitely required some time which complainant and his family did not give. They became impatient. For a doctor, patient is always a patient only, whether a haji sahib or a common man. That pathological test report shows that his Serum ALT was 272 ( normal upto 40 U/L) and AST was 586 ( normal upto 37 U/L ). And AST /ALT ratio more than 1 supported the history of alcohol intake. Definitely there are some other reasons of suffering from acute pancreatitis. For that an USG of whole abdomen of the complainant was done. But before the report came by evening of 23-05-2013, complainant had left the hospital on his own at 11.58 a.m. in the morning of 23-05-2013. But o.ps. released him on Discharge Against Medical Advice mentioning the medicines which were required to be taken by him.
So, according to our observation, considering all aspects after going through all the documents on record, we do not find any negligence on the part of the o.ps. Points under consideration are accordingly decided.
Hence,
O R D E R E D
That the C. C. Case No. 207 of 2013 ( HDF 207 of 2013 ) be dismissed on contest against the O.Ps. without costs.
Supply the copies of the order to the parties, as per rule.
DICTATED & CORRECTED
BY ME.
( Jhumki Saha )
Member, C.D.R.F.,Howrah.
