3 cm long needle left in woman's spine after surgery, doctor stuck it after 20 years; now victim will get compensation of Rs 5 lakh
A woman in Bengaluru has received a compensation of Rs 5 lakh. The woman has received this compensation for a 3.2 cm surgical needle remaining in her spine for six years after surgery. The Karnataka State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed the hospital and doctors to pay compensation. You can read about this case and the decision given in detail in the news.
The consumer forum has ordered compensation of Rs 5 lakh to be awarded to a woman from Bengaluru. This order was issued about 20 years after a 3.2 cm surgical needle remained in her body after surgery in a private hospital here.
The Karnataka State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered the hospital and two doctors to pay Rs 50,000 as litigation expenses to Padmavati, a Jayanagar resident. It also asked New India Assurance Company Limited, which had issued the policy covering the hospital expenses, to pay her Rs five lakh for "professional and medical negligence".
The 32-year-old woman had undergone surgery at Deepak Hospital on September 29, 2004, when two doctors operated for her hernia. Since her appendix was also removed after the surgery was complete, the commission's order last month said. She complained of very acute pain the very next day for which she was given some painkillers and was assured that it was a post-surgery problem and would be cured. It said that she had been having acute pain in the abdomen and back for the past several years and was subsequently admitted twice to the same hospital.
Padmavati later approached another private hospital here in 2010 and during a scan, it was observed that some foreign object was present in the abdomen and back portion of her body and she was suggested to get it (surgical needle) removed. She then underwent surgery and the 3.2 cm surgical needle was removed following which she approached the consumer forum with a complaint the following year.
The forum said the complainant was around 32 years old when she underwent all these surgeries and got the surgical needle removed. The order said she certainly suffered a lot of pain and discomfort till the surgical needle was removed. Therefore, she is entitled to a 'global compensation' of Rs five lakh and the insurance company (New India Assurance Company Limited) is directed to pay the amount. Both the doctors are also held liable to pay litigation expenses of Rs 50,000.
