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A consumer court has held a surgeon guilty of ‘gross medical negligence’ after he allegedly removed a woman’s healthy kidney instead of the infected one during surgery, a mistake that later led to her death.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ordered the doctor to pay ₹2 crore compensation to the woman’s family. Shanti Devi died in 2014 after undergoing years of dialysis following the surgery.
According to the order passed by a bench led by Commission President AP Sahi and member Bharatkumar Pandey, medical reports before the operation had clearly shown that Shanti Devi’s right kidney was severely damaged while her left kidney was functioning normally.
The surgery, conducted in 2012, was supposed to remove the diseased right kidney. But scans conducted after the operation reportedly showed that the right kidney was still inside her body while the healthy left kidney had been removed.
The commission said the mistake had disastrous consequences for the patient because she was left with a failed kidney and no functioning one to support her survival.
“Had the left kidney remained intact and had not been removed by the OP (surgeon), the same would have helped in the survival of the patient,” the order stated.
The consumer court called it “a medical disaster and a negligence of the highest order,” as quoted by Bar & Bench.
Following the surgery, Shanti Devi reportedly underwent repeated dialysis treatments for nearly two years before dying in February 2014. The commission linked her suffering and death directly to the surgical error and noted that the diseased kidney was never removed.
The surgeon denied the allegation and argued that it was anatomically impossible to remove the left kidney through an incision made on the right side of the body. He also claimed he could not have imagined such a mistake taking place.
But the commission rejected the defence as it noted that the doctor himself had mentioned ‘right side nephrectomy’ in post-operative records. It also observed that there was no separate medical explanation for the missing left kidney.
The order also referred to findings by the Uttar Pradesh Medical Council, which had earlier found the doctor negligent and suspended his registration for two years. The council had also recorded that a forged case sheet was produced during proceedings. The decision was later upheld by the Medical Council of India.
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Out of the total ₹2 crore compensation, the commission directed ₹1.5 crore to be paid for medical negligence, along with ₹10 lakh each to the complainants for loss of love and affection and ₹1 lakh towards litigation costs. It also said the amount would carry 6% annual interest from February 20, 2014, till the final payment is made.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ordered the doctor to pay ₹2 crore compensation to the woman’s family. Shanti Devi died in 2014 after undergoing years of dialysis following the surgery.
According to the order passed by a bench led by Commission President AP Sahi and member Bharatkumar Pandey, medical reports before the operation had clearly shown that Shanti Devi’s right kidney was severely damaged while her left kidney was functioning normally.
The surgery, conducted in 2012, was supposed to remove the diseased right kidney. But scans conducted after the operation reportedly showed that the right kidney was still inside her body while the healthy left kidney had been removed.
The commission said the mistake had disastrous consequences for the patient because she was left with a failed kidney and no functioning one to support her survival.
“Had the left kidney remained intact and had not been removed by the OP (surgeon), the same would have helped in the survival of the patient,” the order stated.
The consumer court called it “a medical disaster and a negligence of the highest order,” as quoted by Bar & Bench.
Following the surgery, Shanti Devi reportedly underwent repeated dialysis treatments for nearly two years before dying in February 2014. The commission linked her suffering and death directly to the surgical error and noted that the diseased kidney was never removed.
The surgeon denied the allegation and argued that it was anatomically impossible to remove the left kidney through an incision made on the right side of the body. He also claimed he could not have imagined such a mistake taking place.
But the commission rejected the defence as it noted that the doctor himself had mentioned ‘right side nephrectomy’ in post-operative records. It also observed that there was no separate medical explanation for the missing left kidney.
The order also referred to findings by the Uttar Pradesh Medical Council, which had earlier found the doctor negligent and suspended his registration for two years. The council had also recorded that a forged case sheet was produced during proceedings. The decision was later upheld by the Medical Council of India.
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Out of the total ₹2 crore compensation, the commission directed ₹1.5 crore to be paid for medical negligence, along with ₹10 lakh each to the complainants for loss of love and affection and ₹1 lakh towards litigation costs. It also said the amount would carry 6% annual interest from February 20, 2014, till the final payment is made.
