Med negligence: Govt told to pay ₹5L relief

Chennai: The SHRC has directed the government to give ₹5 lakh compensation to the family of a patient who died due to alleged negligence of doctors at Raja Mirasudar Government Hospital at Thanjavur. The incident happened more than a decade ago.

Petitioner M Abraham said doctors at the hospital were informed his daughter had developed some complications while being anaesthetised and alleged the duty doctor was not available for a few hours. On January 24, 2009, the petitioner was told his daughter was dead. The surgeon on duty at the time of the incident, Dr Kumaran, told to the commission he examined the patient and explained the risks involved in surgery, following which consent was obtained from the father.

He said since he felt fatigued he requested a colleague to relieve him and took a short break. The inquiry panel formed by the collector had also noted there was no medical negligence, the doctor said. SHRC member A Chittaranjan Mohandoss noted the doctor even attended to another patient at a private hospital and held there was human rights violation. The commission asked the government to issue compensation to the family within eight weeks. tnn