The Supreme Court has ruled that Manipal Hospital must provide Rs.10 lakh in compensation due to an anesthesia error made by a trainee doctor. The court’s emphasis on accountability and patient safety in medical procedures.
New Delhi: On Tuesday, the Supreme Court directed Manipal Hospital to pay Rs. 10 lakh in compensation to the widow of a deceased individual. The unfortunate incident occurred when a trainee doctor at Bengaluru’s Manipal Hospital administered anesthesia to the patient, resulting in the patient’s voice becoming hoarse.
A Bench comprising Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah emphasized that the administration of anesthesia should have been conducted by the head of the department, highlighting potential negligence in the medical procedure.
The deceased patient, during the course of the case, had initially claimed Rs. 18 lakh in compensation for medical malpractice caused from an operation on his left lung, which led to paralysis of his left vocal cord. Initially, a district consumer forum independently arrived at a compensation figure of Rs. 5,00,000, a decision later upheld by the National Consumer District Redressal Commission.
Advocates Susmit Pushkar and Gaurav Sharma represented the deceased and his family, while Manipal Hospital was represented by advocates SV Joga Rao, Radha Pyari, S Yashwant Prasad, Shivam Bajaj, Ashish Choudhury, Akash Tandon, and Rohit Amit Sthalekar.
Dissatisfied with the compensation amount, the widow of the deceased sought relief in the apex court, which concluded that the compensation awarded thus far was insufficient given the circumstances of the case.
“Mere reliance on medical literature would not be sufficient to exonerate the Hospital from its duty of ensuring that the Head of the Department, Anaesthesia ought to have inserted the Double Lumen Tube. Instead, he was not available and the task was delegated to a trainee anaesthetist,”
the Court observed.
The Supreme Court, considering the unfortunate demise of the appellant during the proceedings before the NCDRC, deemed it unnecessary to remand the case further. Instead, it directed Manipal Hospital to immediately pay an enhanced compensation of Rs.10 lakh to the widow within one month.
CASE TITLE: J Douglas Luiz v. Manipal Hospital
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