Chennai hospital leaves cloth bundle in woman’s stomach after C-section, told to pay Rs 13 lakh
The woman developed serious health complications after the C-section and had to undergo an eight-hour-long surgery to remove the cloth bundle.
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CHENNAI: A consumer court in Chennai directed a city hospital to pay Rs 13.27 lakh to a young woman after the doctors and staff left a bandage cloth bundle inside a young mother’s stomach during a caesarian procedure which almost cost her life.
The woman developed serious health complications after the C-section and had to undergo an eight-hour-long surgery to remove the cloth bundle.
During the seventh month of her pregnancy, Preethi of Tondiarpet developed a stomach and was admitted to SSS Hospital in Tiruvottiyur where she was consulting for checkups. The doctor there advised C-section delivery and the premature baby was admitted to another private hospital with neonatal ICU facility.
Meanwhile, Preethi developed heavy bleeding in the stomach allegedly due to the negligence on the part of Dr Selvi Mahalakshmi and Dr Saravanan, and the doctors sutured the surgical wound again. Even after discharge, she suffered stomach pain, vomiting, and dysentery, and was admitted again for eight days. She was not able to feed the baby during this time.
Preethi was then taken to the Government Hospital for Women and Children, Egmore, from where she was referred to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH). There, the doctors found an unknown object in her stomach and immediately sent her for surgery. After the surgery lasting more than eight hours, the bandage bundle was removed.
When the complaint reached the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (Chennai - North), the panel headed by president D Gopinath, and members V Ramamurthy and Kavitha Kannan came down heavily on the doctors and staff, finding them guilty of breach of duty. The doctor concerned shall be fastened with civil liability, irrespective of moral blameworthiness, it said.
The commission then directed the opposite parties, including the doctors and hospital, to pay Rs 10 lakh and also reimburse the entire medical bill amount of Rs 3,26,746 paid within two months.
