Madras HC: Why full compensation not paid to patients despite order

Chennai: The Madras high court has slammed the state government for going back on its commitment to pay compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the patients, who had contacted Hepatitis C while undergoing dialysis at Stanley Medical College and Hospital in Chennai.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M.M. Sundresh said on the submission of the government pleader, it found that he was seeking to withdraw from what was stated before it on September 21, 2015, when he had unequivocally stated that while compensation of '3 lakh had been disbursed, a further sum of Rs 2 lakh per head had been sanctioned, which would be shortly disbursed.

"It appears that thereafter there has been a reversal of this decision by the government. We call for all the records duly flagged to be produced in this behalf and the person taking a decision not to honour the commitment made in the court on September 21, 2015 should personally remain present in the court on the next date of hearing", the bench added and posted to April 27, further hearing of the PIL from Jayaram Venkatesan of Mylapore.

In his PIL, Jayaram Venkatesan submitted that 16 kidney failure patients, who had been undergoing periodical dialysis at Stanley hospital contacted hepatitis C. An internal inquiry admitted that most of the 16 patients had indeed contacted the infection at the hospital. But it curiously exonerated the hospital authorities of negligence.