Hyderabad Consumer Forum: Hospital to Pay ₹1 Crore for Negligence

A Hyderabad District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission recently directed Citizens Speciality Hospital and its consultant neurologist to jointly and severally pay ₹1 crore in compensation and ₹50,000 towards legal expenses for negligent treatment of a 30-year-old Hyderabad University PhD student [Ramavadh & Anr. v Citizens Speciality Hospital & Ors].A coram of President B Uma Venkata Subba Lakshmi and Members C Lakshmi Prasanna and B Raji Reddy held the hospital and Dr Aparna Vijay Kumar, its consultant neurologist, liable for deficiency in treatment of Surya Pratap Bharathi, who suffered a massive stroke on August 17, 2020 and died 4 days later.Bharathi was found unconscious at his university hostel and was taken to Citizens Speciality Hospital. The Commission found that the hospital had identified the need for a mechanical thrombectomy. However, it noted that the hospital had failed to provide the necessary intervention within the relevant therapeutic window.The Commission held that the hospital and doctor could not avoid responsibility by citing the absence of the patient's family for consent, particularly when he was unconscious and in need of urgent treatment. It explained that where delaying treatment could cause irreversible harm, emergency treatment could be undertaken on the basis of implied or presumed consent."OPNo.1(the hospital) & OPNo.2 (its consulting neurologist) are found negligent and deficient in providing necessary treatment to the patient