By BISHESHWAR MISHRA
TIA
AHMEDABAD: A Gujarat Consumer Court has penalised a doctor for callously doing an incomplete abortion procedure on a hapless woman.
The Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, last month ordered Doctor N. Patel, of Mary Stopes Parivar Seva Clinic, Ahmedabad, to pay compensation to Sima P. Kothiya Rs 12,555 with 9 per cent interest from the date of complaint until payment for the expenses incurred on her post-abortion treatment, Rs. 25,000 towards mental agony and harassment and Rs. 2,000 towards cost.
According to Preeti Shah, editor of Insight a consumer magazine associated with Consumer Education and Research Society, Ahmadabad, Sima visited Dr. Patel at the clinic for a check-up on 22 April 2005 . He confirmed that she had been pregnant for two months. Already a mother of one, Sima did not want to go in for a second child. She opted for the medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) by Dr. Patel. After the operation she paid him Rs. 520.
But the very next day, Sima complained of a severe abdominal pain and revisited Dr. Patel. He advised her to continue with the medicines prescribed earlier (after the MTP). The next day her condition worsened further and she contacted Dr. Patel again but the doctor was away on a holiday.
The consumer activist said that meanwhile the patient’s condition continued to deteriorate, so her family admitted her to Anand Hospital as an indoor patient. She was immediately given necessary treatment but there was no improvement in her condition. On doctor’s advice, Sima underwent a sonography test which revealed that her MTP had been incomplete with part of the fetus still left inside and the uterus damaged, leading to her abdominal pain and continued bleeding. She was shifted to the Sardar Patel Hospital where she was administered the necessary follow-up treatment and was discharged only after undergoing treatment for three days there. She incurred a total expenditure of Rs. 26,000, the activist added.
Subsequently the victim complained to Consumer Education and Research Socity (CERS) which wrote to the doctor claiming reimbursement of the amount incurred on account of the doctor’s “carelessness”. In the face of the doctor’s silence, CERS sent him a legal notice. When that too evoked no response, CERS along with Sima filed a complaint with the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Gandhinagar, accusing the doctor of medical negligence and deficiency in service.
According to the consumer activist even though doctor Patel did not attend the proceedings, the charges against him were denied on his behalf.
However, on November 19, 2010 the Consumer court ordered the doctor concerned to pay the complainant woman Rs. 12,555 with 9 per cent interest from the date of complaint until payment for the post-MTP medical expenses incurred, Rs. 25,000 towards mental agony and harassment and Rs. 2000 towards cost.