The main legal point established in the judgment is that negligence in medical procedures and lack of basic infrastructure in hospitals can lead to liability and compensation.

Mr. Justice Chandrashekaraiah, President—Often we are coming across cases where several private Hospitals do not have basic facilities, such as intensive care unit, sufficient medical staff round the clock, blood bottles and other infrastructure in the hospital. If these facilities are not provided in time, a patient may die. Hospitals should concentrate on providing better treatment rather than on making money. In the case on hand a lady who had gone to a private hospital for delivery died because of lack of basic infrastructure in the hospital and also due to negligence on the part of the doctor.

2. The complainant has filed this complaint claiming compensation of Rs. 25,00,000 from the opposite parties (for short, “O.Ps.”) alleging “negligence” and “deficiency in service” on the part of the O.Ps.

3. The brief facts of the case of the complainant are that his wife Smt. Vishalakshmi (for short, the “patient”) was admitted to Pragathi Hospital at Tumkur, which is run by the O.Ps., on 27.12.1999 for delivery. O.P. 1 on examination advised the patient to go for caesarean section (LSCS) for giving birth to a child and, accordingly, O.P. 1 conducted caesarean section after administering spinal anaesthesia by O.P. 2 and the patient gave birth to a female child at 8.40 p.m. on 27.12.1999 in the said hospital. On the very night of the delivery, according to the complainant, the patient started gasping for breath and the medical staff which attended to the patient found that her blood pressure was low and she had irregular heart beats and her abdomen had distended. The complainant after coming to know of the said fact on 29.12.1999 rushed to Tumkur on 29.12.1999 and requested the O.Ps. to seek expert advice after he came to know that the O.Ps. had been negligent in discharge of their duties. As there was no intensive care unit or ventilator support in the Pragathi Hospital, the complainant requested the O.Ps. to get the patient immediately discharged and, accordingly, the patient was discharged and was brought to Bangalore in an Ambulance and she was taken to Vijayanagar Nursing Home, Vijayanagar, Bangalore. In that Hospital, the doctor on examination advised the complainant to take the patient to a well-equipped Hospital as he was of the opinion that the patient’s problem might be due to septic-shock. Accordingly, the patient was shifted to Mallige Hospital on the very same day in the very same Ambulance. In the Mallige Hospital after conducting a detailed inquiry and medical tests it was found that the right inferior epigastric artery of the patient had given way leading to internal bleeding which resulted in large collection of blood in the abdomen. The doctor who conducted the surgery in the Mallige Hospital informed the complainant that the right inferior epigastric artery was cut during caesarean operation and had not been sutured after the operation and this had resulted in large collection of blood in the abdomen leading to its distension. This internal bleeding resulted in loss of supply of blood to various vital organs of the body, which resulted in breakdown of these organs. Thereafter the patient was put in intensive care unit/ventilator. Then the patient was taken to M.S. Ramaiah Hospital, Bangalore, where she underwent ‘Haemo-Dialysis’. Ultimately, the patient was shifted to Manipal Hospital on 6.1.2000 and in the said hospital she was put to certain tests with ventilator support system. Despite these measures, the patient died on 14.1.2000 due to ‘septic multi organ failure’.

4. According to the complainant, if O.P. 1 had taken proper care while conducting caesarean section she could have noticed the bleeding from the right inferior epigastric artery and she could have legated the same and thereby saved the life of the patient. This, according to the complainant, is a sheer negligence on the part of O.P. 1 in not noticing that the right inferior epigastric artery was cut. In addition to this, there was “deficiency in