Rajasthan: The State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission has directed a surgeon attached to a Churu-based hospital to pay a compensation of Rs 15 lakh to the kin of a patient who died due to alleged misdiagnosis of cancer in the gallbladder.
According to a recent report by TOI, the doctor conducted an operation and removed the cancerous cells thinking them to be stones. After the operation, the condition of the patient got worse as the cancerous cells spread all through his body to which the patient eventually succumbed.
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The wife of the deceased had submitted that the patient sought treatment from the doctor on 15th February 2010 as he was suffering from stomach ache. The doctor conducted a few tests on the patient and informed them that the pain was due to a stone in the gallbladder. Hence, the doctor suggested them to undergo surgery so that the stones can be removed. He also charged the patient Rs 16,000 as his fee and an additional Rs 34,000 for several medications.
After a week of treatment, the patient was discharged from the hospital. However, he started facing the same problem and returned to the hospital on May 21st. The doctor told the patient that a biopsy at Jaipur confirmed that he was suffering from cancer in the gall bladder (Moderately Differentiated Adenocarcinoma).
Times of India reports that later, the patient was taken to SMS hospital in Jaipur where the doctors confirmed that the previous doctor removed the cyst from the gallbladder as he considered it to be stones. However, the doctors found that it was cancerous cells and not stones in the gallbladder. Thereafter, after the operation, cancer spread through his whole body and it was not possible to save the patient. The patient eventually passed away on June 23rd, 2010.
After considering the submission of the petitioner, the state consumer forum of the circuit bench of Bikaner held the doctor guilty of medical negligence and ordered him to pay a compensation of Rs 15 lakh to the kin of the patient.