Sion Hospital, doctors ordered to compensate woman for burning her back

A consumer forum recently ordered Sion Hospital and three doctors to compensate a woman who had suffered burns due to an equipment malfunction during surgery.

The woman, Kamal Dhaman, suffered severe burns on her body during her bypass surgery after the electrical equipment used to maintain body temperature went as high as 45 degree celsius.

Dhaman had filed a complaint with Central Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in 2007. In her complaint, she alleged that the electrical equipment used to maintain body temperature malfunctioned when she underwent a bypass surgery at the hospital in June 2000.

She also stated that she complained about the heat to the doctors, but they chose to ignore her warnings and administered anaesthesia. After she regained consciousness, she could feel severe pain and had developed blisters on her back.

When she complained to Dr Tendulkar, who was overseeing the surgery, he asked the other doctors to investigate. That’s when Dr Kumud admitted that her back was burned due to the faulty equipment.

She was treated at the hospital for a few more days, during which she complained to the hospital authorities. But after her complaints fell on deaf ears, she decided to approach the consumer forum.

The doctors, Anil Tendulkar, Kumud Golam and Nityanand Thakur, argued that they were not responsible for the equipment malfunction at the hospital. However, the forum stated that they were responsible for checking the equipment prior to performing the surgery and therefore liable to compensate the woman along with the hospital.

The forum has ordered Sion Hospital and the three doctors to pay Dhaman a compensation of Rs 7 lakh.