The Madras High Court recently ordered Rs 40 lakh compensation to a Sri Lankan Tamil woman who suffered a permanent disability following a faulty first surgery and subsequent procedures at a private infertility treatment hospital in Chennai.
A bench of Justice G Chandrasekharan observed that despite knowing the medical history of the woman, who had already undergone two surgeries, three DNC procedures, and seven failed IVF procedures, the doctors at the G.G. Hospital in Chennai decided to proceed further with her infertility treatment. “No proper precautions were taken to avoid damage to other body parts of the woman. Defendants had taken unnecessary risk and in the process, risked the life of plaintiff,” the court held.
The court opined that although the 43-year-old woman had consented to take risk after all her previous failed attempts at conceiving, the doctors at the G.G. Hospital should have given her proper advice and even “discouraged her to go ahead with pregnancy plans in view of her failed attempts and advanced age”.
“As per this definition, a Doctor owes the duty to patient in deciding whether to undertake the case; the duty of care in deciding what treatment to give; and the duty of care in his administration of that treatment,” court said.
THE PATIENT
The 43-year-old woman, who was settled in France and had seven failed IVF procedures, came for treatment in the G.G. Hospital in Chennai in 2013, mainly based on the popularity of a particular doctor in infertility treatment there.
However, the woman was operated upon by another doctor, and post the surgery, she developed a severe complication of ‘sigmoid perforation’ due to which she had to be operated on a second time three days later.
Still, her condition worsened and when she complained of breathlessness, she had to be transferred to Apollo First Med Hospital for further treatment as the infertility centre did not have any facilities for assisted ventilation treatment.
After three more surgeries at the Apollo First Med Hospital, although the woman’s life was saved, she claimed that she developed a permanent disability associated with these surgeries and she was left to live permanently with a ‘colostomy bag’ to discharge faeces.
THE SUIT
The woman filed a suit seeking compensation of Rs 1.5 crore from the hospital and its doctors.
The hospital and the defendant doctors opposed the plaint and argued that the woman had suppressed her past medical history and that the treatment given to her at the hospital, was in accordance with the protocol for treating the patient with similar complaints.
They claimed that the investigation prior to the treatment revealed that the woman had fibroid and adhesions, and therefore, Laparoscopic Adhesiolysis was performed on her as her first surgery.
The doctor, who performed the surgery, claimed that there was no rupture in the sigmoid colon of the woman and she developed complications later due to her previous surgeries which had progressed to a severe status over the past decade or more.
The defendants claimed that it was only post the operative period that the woman developed peritonitis and had to undergo emergency laparotomy three days later where she was diagnosed with an inadvertent sigmoid perforation, for which she was treated.
THE ORDER
However, the court found that the hospital and the doctors were well aware of the woman’s medical history, and still, they not only failed in properly advising, but also failed in properly administering the treatment to the woman when they were performing adhesiolysis.
Therefore, the court awarded the woman payment of a sum of Rs 15 lakh towards the medical expenses and a lumpsum compensation of Rs 25 lakh towards her pain and suffering and disability.
The court directed the defendant hospital and the doctors to the compensation jointly and severally as per the order.
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