New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held that performing surgery in a hospital without an intensive care unit (ICU) amounted to medical negligence and directed the doctor who performed the operation in January 1994 to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the family of the woman, who died.
A bench of Justices A.K. Goel and U.U. Lalit, giving this compensation pointed out that neither the State nor the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission had examined the plea of the appellant (legal heirs of victim, Bijoy Sinha Roy) that the operation should not have been performed at a nursing home which did not have an ICU.
It said that it could be reasonably foreseen by the hospital that without an ICU there was post operative risk to the life of the patient.
The bench said “Having regard to the fact that the matter has been pending for the last 23 years, instead of remanding the matter for fresh adjudication on this issue, we consider it appropriate in the interests of justice to direct Dr Bishwanath Das to pay a sum of Rs 5 lakh to the heirs of the appellant without any interest within three months.”
The bench expressed serious concern over the inordinate delay in disposal of disputes by consumer fora.
