Back
NATIONAL CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION, NEW DELHI
V.K. Jain, Presiding Member
Dr. Rajesh Jhorawat —Complainant
versus
Life Cell International Pvt. Ltd. and
Anr. —Opp. Parties
Consumer Case No.95 of 2018
Decided on 13.3.2020
Counsel for the Parties:
For the Complainant:Mr. Pashupati Nath Razdan, Advocate Mr. Mirza Kayesh Begg, Advocate Mr. Ritesh Khare, Advocate
For the Opp. Parties:Mr. V.K. Garg, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Sumit Roy, Advocate Mr. Varun Pandey, Advocate Mr. Pawas Kulshrestha, Advocate
IMPORTANT POINT
Complainant held entitled to compensation of Rs. 20 lacs for failure of opposite party regarding stem cells preservation of child of complainant.
Headnote:
Consumer Protection Act, 1986 – Sections 2(1)(g) and 21 – Consumer Protection Act, 2019 – Sections 2(11) and 58 – Medical negligence – Stem cell preservation – Deficiency in service – Compensation – Complainant entered into an agreement with opposite parties to preserve the Umbilical stem cells of the child which his wife as expecting to deliver – However, despite advance intimation of expected time of delivery having been given, opposite party failed to collect the same in time – Thus stem cell preservation remained impossible – Since sample was not collected soon after the birth of child, thus complainant lost a precious opportunity to preserve the stem cells of his child, which could prove to be of a vital use in future – In view of such deficiency in service, opposite party directed to pay Rs. 20 lacs as compensation to complainant – Further direction issued. (Paras 11 to 13)
Result: Complaint allowed.
ORDER
V.K. Jain, Presiding Member—The use of stem cells in the treatment of several diseases such as Thalassemia, Leukaemia, Lymphoma and auto-immune disorders, is being increasingly recognized. Bone-Marrow transplantation is being currently used for treatment of several diseases, including certain malignancies and genetic blood disorders. If it is not possible to get bone marrow donor from a family member, attempt is made to find a suitably HLA matched donor for the patients needing stem cells transplant. It is not always possible to find suitable donors. Moreover, GVHD (Graft- Versus-Host-Disease) occurs in majority of bone-marrows coming from outside the family of the patient. The cord blood which is the left over blood in the umbilical cord and placenta after the birth of a child, is seen as comparable to the bone-marrow in terms of its utility in stem cell transplantation and in fact offers a number of advantages over the bone-marrow. It has also been found that the related samples instead of unrelated samples dramatically increase the survival rate for the patients.
Several parents, particularly those who are well-educated are now keen to store the stem cells of their child at the time of his birth so that the said cells can be stored in a stem cell bank and used in case of an unexpected illness of the child, requiring stem cell transplant in future. Umbilical cord blood therefore is now being recognised as a rich source of blood forming stem cells which, if required, can be used not only to treat dreaded diseases such as blood and bone-marrow cancer but also in regenerative medicines. Even the gelatine tissue in the cord is considered to be a rich source of Mesenchymal stem cells. The stem cells have also been shown to be able to repair damaged heart and nervous tissue besides, treating Type I diabetes and children born with Neurological defects.
2. For the purpose of collecting the cord blood and cord tissue, a sample of the blood is taken immediately after the birth of the child, once the placenta and the umbilical cord are safely delivered. The shorter the time between the birth of the child and cryo-preserver, the better it is for the quality of the cord blood and tissue. Once the stem cells are frozen and are stored in a bank, they can remain stored for upto 25 years, provided that they have been suitably processed and stored. It is therefore, necessary to take the sample of the blood and the cord without any delay once the child is born and an un-expectable delay in drawing such samples is likely to render the sample incapable of being analysed and stored for future.
3. The opposite party, namely Life Cell International Pvt. Ltd., is engaged in collection and preservation of the umbilical cord blood and tissue of a baby and as per the Brochure issued by the opposite party, the collection of umbilical cord stem cell can be done only at the time of birth. On the parents signing up with the opposite party for such collection and preservation, a collection kit is provided to them with necessary tools and instruments in sterile condition for the collection of the umbilical cord blood, cord tissue and maternal blood samples. It is also stated in the Brochure issued by the opposite party that the umbilical cord blood and maternal blood sample are collected just after child birth (emphasis supplied). The sample is transported to the laboratory of the opposite party within 48 hours and the opposite party claims to have enabled online tracking of the sample right from the time it leaves the hospital, in order to allow the parents to track the journey of the stem cells of the baby, right from the umbilical cord, to the cryo-presever. In the laboratory the sample is subjected to various tests to check for the presence of the infectious diseases and also to assess the cell counts, viability and sterility. Several tests on the cord blood are performed. The processing in the laboratory of the opposite party involves separating the
