MUMBAI: Shyam Sundar Dash admitted his 16-year-old daughter Shrutilekha to IMFA Hopsital in Therubali, Odisha, in December 1998 for pain in the left knee and leg. Investigations and biopsy revealed osteosarcoma. So she was referred to
Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) in Mumbai.
Dash subsequently filed a complaint before the Orissa State Commission against TMH alleging negligence. He stated after five weeks of chemotherapy, the prosthetic knee replacement, which had been ordered, turned out to have incorrect measurements, which delayed the surgery. He alleged the cancer surgeon was not simultaneously present during the surgery. He claimed the implant was not properly fixed, resulting in profuse bleeding and infection. So, even though the hospital advised replacement of the implant along with fibula grafting and additional chemotherapy, he refused to pay any further amount. Instead, he admitted his daughter to Christian Hospital in Cuttack, where her leg was amputated, and she ultimately passed away on December 8, 2000.
TMH denied negligence, and stated osteosarcoma is an aggressive type of cancer in adolescents, and it was treated as per standard protocol. It relied on medical literature and books that rejection of an implant is a known complication in about 15% patients, and is the cause of the infection. The state commission ruled there was no negligence, but there were functional irregularities, for which it awarded Rs1 lakh compensation and Rs10,000 as costs.
Both Dash as well as TMH went in appeal. Going by the evidence, the National Commission confirmed there was no negligence. It also found the allegation regarding incorrect implant measurement baseless. In its order on January 8, 2021, the National Commission dismissed the complaint. However, instead of refunding Rs35,000 deposited by the hospital while filing the appeal, this amount was ordered to be donated to Dash along with accumulated interest, merely because litigation regarding the teenager’s death had dragged on for two decades.
(The author is a consumer activist and has won the Govt. of India's National Youth Award for Consumer Protection. His email is jehangir.gai.columnist@outlook.in )