Order No. 10 dt. 13/04/2017
The case of the complainant in brief is that the complainant sustained burn injury and for his treatment he was admitted in CMRI Hospital on 14.11.14. The complainant was admitted under Dr. Ranjan Tandon. During the treatment on 12.11.14 the elder brother of the complainant discovered that the medicine in the drawer allotted by the hospital authority to the patient beyond expiry date. The supplied medicine ‘KABIMMUNE 15 GM SACHETS’ was found beyond expiry date. The complainant thereafter brought it to the notice of the hospital authority, but they wanted to suppress the matter. Due to such negligence in service on the part of o.ps. the complainant suffered abdominal pain accompanied by skin disease. In view of the said fact the complainant prayed for compensation of Rs.8 lakhs and litigation cost of Rs.20,000/- against the o.ps. for deficiency in service on the part of o.ps.
The o.ps. contested this case by filing w/v and denied all the material allegations of the complaint. It was stated that the complainant was admitted in the o.p. hospital under o.p. no.2 with burn injury on 3.11.14. The treatment was provided to the complainant and he was discharged from the hospital on 21.11.14 in an improved and cured condition. The medicine as alleged by the complainant was not the actual drug but rather a supplement as it would be evident from the annexure annexed with the complaint petition itself. The complainant by making misrepresentation and also made false allegation against the o.ps. in order to make illegal financial gains and the allegation against the o.ps. made by the complainant was made on surmise and conjecture. In view of the said fact o.ps. prayed for dismissal of the case.
On the basis of the pleadings of parties the following points are to be decided:
- Whether the complainant was treated at o.p. hospital and got admission there.
- Whether during the treatment of the complainant he was provided with any drug with the expiry date.
- Whether there was any negligence or deficiency in service on the part of o.ps.
- Whether the complainant will be entitled to get any relief as prayed for.
Decision with reasons:
All the points are taken up together for the sake of brevity and avoidance of repetition of facts.
The complainant in order to prove the fact that he was admitted in o.p. hospital filed some documents stating inter alia that on the date of emersion procession of Jagatdhatri deity because of sprinkling of kerosene oil coupled with the setting fire with a burn match stick the complainant got burn injury due to the said incident and he was admitted in o.p. hospital. During the treatment of the o.p. hospital the complainant found that one sachet was kept inside the drawer where the patient was kept in the room, the elder brother of the complainant taking out of the said sachet found that the date was expired and the said drug was provided to the complainant for which he suffered. On the basis of the said fact the complainant filed this case claiming for compensation and cost for negligence committed by the hospital authority.
Ld. lawyer for the o.ps. argued that the annexure made by the complainant it can be that the manufacturing date of the said sachet was April 2014 and it was written that based before 18 months from date of manufacture i.e. the said sachet could have been used till the month of Nov. 2015. But the patient was admitted in the hospital on 4.11.14 i.e. well within the said period the said sachet was utilized for providing a liquid supplement to the complainant. There was no negligence on the part of the hospital authority and therefore the complainant will not be entitled to get any claim as prayed for.
Considering the materials on record it is an admitted fact that the complainant admitted to o.p. hospital with burn injury and he was provided with the medicine and the documents claimed by the complainant that the expired medicine was applied to the complainant for which the complainant suffered illness, but in order to prove the medical negligence the complainant must prove that what was done by the hospital should not have been done and what was done as per accepted medical practice and the same be supported by expert evidence or available medical literature as was decided by the Hon’ble National Commission in the reported decision [2004 CPJ 175 (NC)]. The complainant failed to prove that there was any medical negligence on the part of o.ps. On the contrary from the materials on record it is found that the sachet which was provided to the complainant was well within the period of the expiry date and as such, we hold that there was no negligence or deficiency in service on the part of o.ps. and in order to extract money from o.ps. the complainant filed this case which has got no substance to be allowed in favour of the complainant. Accordingly we hold that the complainant will not be entitled to get any relief as prayed for. Thus all the points are disposed of accordingly.
Hence, ordered,
That the CC No.270/2015 is dismissed on contest without cost against the o.ps.
Supply certified copy of this order to the parties free of cost.
