Hospital to pay patient Rs 20 lakh

NEW DELHI: Life has never been normal for 35-year-old Sudha ever since she delivered a baby nine years ago. Both her legs had to be amputated because of gangrene having set in as a result of an infection she contracted during her caesarean operation at the ESI Hospital, Basai Darapur, in west Delhi's Raja Garden area.

Sudha's legs turned black soon after the operation on January 20, 1998, because it was allegedly conducted without sterilisation and the doctors did not stitch the cuts properly. As a result, blood circulation to her lower limbs stopped. At AIIMS, she was diagnosed with gangrene resulting from post-operation complications and infection. Her legs had to be amputated to save her life.

Almost a decade after that harrowing experience, Sudha has been awarded Rs 20 lakh as compensation by the Delhi Consumer Commission which held the ESI hospital guilty of gross medical negligence. Awarding the compensation, Justice JD Kapoor said, "Having become permanently disabled, Sudha's miseries are unfathomable... the burden of living without both legs can hardly be compensated in terms of money."

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com