Surgeons fined Rs 15 lakh for leaving pad in abdomen

Holding a nursing home owner and a surgeon jointly liable for the negligence, the apex consumer body also directed them to pay a cost of Rs 30,000 to the complainant for mental agony she suffered on account of the lapses during the surgery.

“In the intervening period of more than seven months, during which the pad remained inside the abdomen of the complainant, she must have suffered immense physical pain as alleged by her and the mental agony,” the Commission, comprising members K S Gupta and R K Batta, said. It passed the order on a petition of complainant Vidya Devi seeking Rs 42.5 lakhs from the surgeons for medical.

While the surgeon, a gynecologist, claimed not to have committed any negligence, the owner of the nursing home refused to accept his liability on the ground that he did not play any role during the operation and had only let the operation theatre for conducting the surgery.

Devi underwent the operation in Sudha nursing home in Orissa in 1998.