NEW DELHI: The National consumer commission, NCDRC, has ordered Delhi's Moolchand Hospital and a senior gynaecologist to pay Rs 1 crore compensation to the daughter of a woman in a medical negligence case. The victim, Rupa Dutta, died on October 9, 2003, after Dr Raj Bokaria conducted the procedure for medical termination of pregnancy when she was 26 weeks pregnant.
Passing the order on August 18, the two-member bench of NCDRC, Dr SM Kantikar and Dinesh Singh, recorded that medical negligence is "conclusively attributable" to the hospital and Dr Bokaria.
The order said, "There is no straight-jacket formula for award of compensation, but considering the facts and circumstances, to meet the ends of justice, lump sum compensation of Rs 1 crore appears to be just and adequate. The hospital, which permitted the act of performing medical termination of pregnancy in violation of the MTP Act, 1971, and which did not get the post-mortem conducted and did not inform the local police of the medico-legal case, is undoubtedly liable. The doctor is also clearly liable. We deem it appropriate that the hospital shall pay Rs 90 lakh and the doctor pay Rs 10 lakh to the daughter of the deceased within 6 weeks."
Going by the case history, a foetal echo-cardiography (ECHO) was performed on Dutta in the 24th week of her pregnancy after the advice from Dr Bokaria. The ECHO revealed an obliterated umbilical artery, but there was no developmental anomaly and no signs of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) of the foetus. After going through the report, Dr Bokaria advised for foetal chromosomal test.
Dutta's husband had alleged that Bokaria "directly jumped to the conclusion" that finding of chromosome in fetus and single umbilical artery with foetal IUGR warranted immediate termination of pregnancy.
