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Victim of medical negligence no more

Last Updated 28 June 2011, 19:26 IST
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Prashant Dhanaka, the 41-year-old software engineer who created hope for several people who were victims of medical negligence, breathed his last on Tuesday evening.
Dhanaka’s case shot to fame due to the unheard of compensation ordered by the Supreme Court in his favour.

Dhanaka was brought in a state of coma to Manipal Hospital on June 21.

He was on ventilation in Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Soon, doctors found him suffering from intracranial hemorrhage (massive bleeding inside the brain). With Dhanaka not responding to the treatment of ICU specialists and neurologists, he died on Tuesday evening.  The hospital said that Dhanaka came with high blood pressure and the bleeding in the brain. The doctors believe that the bleeding could have been caused by the increase in blood pressure. Dhanaka is survived by parents and a brother.  

Landmark judgment

The landmark judgment came on May 15, 2009.

The Supreme Court awarded Rs one crore to Dhanaka, who was paralysed from waist down after undergoing  treatment at Hyderabad’s Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS). Dhanaka argued his own case.

Happy with verdict

Although he was satisfied with the judgment in his favour, his family was not  happy with the compensation and sought Rs 7.5 crore, the money they spent over the years.
In 1990, when Dhanaka was 20 years old, he was admitted to the hospital for treatment of a tumour in the chest.

Seven months later he was permanently disabled.

Hope for many

In addition to receiving Rs 15.5 lakh compensation awarded by the National Consumer Redressal Commission, he moved the Supreme Court for compensation of Rs 7.57 crore.

With several medical negligence cases pending in various levels of courts in the country, the judgment in Prashant Dhanaka case gave hope to many other victims of the carelessness shown by medical professionals.

Dream unrealised

In an interview with Deccan Herald after he won the case, which appeared in the May 16, 2009 edition, he had spoken about his future plans.

Dhanaka had said that our country had very few opportunities for the physically handicapped. He had plans to set up a BPO unit for the disabled. 

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(Published 28 June 2011, 19:26 IST)

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