Koderma, Feb. 2: Doctors are paying through their nose for wrong treatment in the mica town. The district consumer forum has instructed a doctor to pay Rs 3 lakh as compensation for wrong treatment of a five-year-old girl.
The consumer forum last week asked the doctor, Anil Kumar Singh, to pay compensation after five-year-old Poonam allegedly lost the use of her left hand due to wrong treatment by him.This was the second such directive issued by the forum this month. It had earlier asked R. P. Sharma, a city-based government doctor, to pay Rs 1.5 lakh to Munni Devi for a surgical goof-up
Poonam’s father Horil Sao had filed a case against Singh, who runs a private clinic, Lord Buddha Hospital at Markachcho, on September 8, last year.
Poonam had developed severe pain on her left hand and her father took her to Singh for treatment.But the doctor failed to diagnose the problem and plastered her hand without ascertaining the reason behind the pain. Singh did not even do an X-ray before proceeding with his line of treatment. He did not take off her metal and plastic bangles before putting her arm in a cast.
The pain aggravated and the hand almost ceased to function.
Sao then consulted a Jhumri Tilaiya-based orthopaedic surgeon. Following a medical examination, the doctor found that the girl’s hand had developed internal injuries, which affected its functioning.
Though timely intervention saved Poonam’s life, it could not restore the use of her hand.
The girl’s father approached the district consumer forum for justice and demanded a compensation of Rs 7.32 lakh. He also sought relief for grant of compensation worth Rs 5 lakh besides expenses for treatment, medicine, hospital charges, and mental distress.
The consumer body issued several notices to Anil Kumar Singh, after finding him guilty prima facie, but he did not present himself before the court.
Retired judge and district consumer forum president S. N. Choudhary and a member of the forum Ramratan Singh, after examining witnesses and the documents, gave their verdict in favour of the girl and her father.
The doctor was instructed to pay the amount within 60 days from the date of judgment.
If Singh fails to comply with the forum’s order, he has to pay an interest of 18 per cent to Sao and his daughter.
Lawyers S. N. Pahari and Yamuna Prasad have taken up the case in the consumer court.
In the previous case, Munni Devi was operated upon for a swollen appendix but the careless surgery resulted in a cut in the urinary bladder, which led to the continuous flow of urine.
Doctor R.P. Sharma, an ENT specialist posted in Koderma block, was allegedly responsible for the damaging surgery. The forum seems to have its hands full with cases of medical malpractice. A decision is pending on the fate of city-based anaesthetist, who had operated upon a patient’s leg.
