The main legal point established in the judgment is that medical practitioners must exercise a reasonable degree of skill and care in their treatment of patients, and hospitals can be held vicariously liable for the negligence of their employees.

ORDER :

B.S. Verma, President—This appeal under Section 15 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is directed against the order dated 27.11.2010 passed by the District Forum, Haridwar in consumer complaint No. 154 of 2009.

2. Briefly stated the facts giving rise to the appeal are that Sh. Shashank Pal, the son of the complainant-Sh. Vijay Singh Pal, aged about 24 years and a graduate in Mass Communication, was working as Photograph Reporter in Dainik Jagran Press, Haridwar. The son of the complainant was not suffering from any serious ailment/disease. On 30.10.2008 at about 6.30 a.m., the son of the complainant felt pain in his chest. The complainant took his son to opposite party No. 1-City Hospital and got his son admitted in the hospital. At about 7.20 a.m., the opposite party No. 2-Dr. Anupam Sharma started the treatment of the complainant’s son. The blood pressure of the patient was noted as 80/50. The attending/treating doctor prescribed two injections, which the complainant immediately brought from Medical Store situated within the hospital compound. The patient was continuously howling from pain in his chest and he was also having vomiting. In the meanwhile, the blood sample of the patient was taken for examination, report whereof was made available after about 45 minutes. The complainant repeatedly told the doctor that his son is continuously experiencing / having pain in his chest, but the doctor told that he had administered / given the pain relieving injection to the patient and the patient will get relief after some time. The doctor asked the patient to walk in the ward. The doctor also asked the patient to do some Yoga exercise, which consumed certain time. The condition of the patient did not improve, rather the same went on deteriorating. The opposite party No. 2 tried to get the E.C.G. of the patient done, but suddenly he came out of the room and told that the condition of the patient is quite serious and, as such, the complainant should take the patient to Bengali Hospital (Ramakrishna Mission Hospital), Haridwar, as there is no ventilator facility in the opposite party No. 1 – hospital. The complainant requested for providing ambulance for shifting the patient to the said hospital, whereupon the doctor told that the ambulance service is available only on call and, therefore, it will take time and the complainant should immediately take the patient to Bengali Hospital (Ramakrishna Mission Hospital), Haridwar by making his own arrangement. The complainant requested for providing medical supervision in the way to the said hospital, but the doctor told that the required staff is not available in the hospital. The complainant and his family members were under panic, as the patient was not moving. The complainant took the patient to Bengali Hospital (Ramakrishna Mission Hospital), Haridwar in his relatives’ car, where Dr. Chaudhary, Heart Surgeon was waiting for them. The said doctor examined the patient and told that the patient has expired about 30 minutes ago. The patient expired on account of sheer negligence on the part of opposite party Nos. 1 and 2. The patient was attended after about 20 minutes in the opposite party No. 1-hospital. The patient was having severe pain in his chest, but for about 1½ hours, he was not given any medicine related to heart problem. The blood pressure of the patient was 80/50, which is normal. If there were no proper facilities in the hospital, why the patient was not immediately referred to Bengali Hospital (Ramakrishna Mission Hospital), Haridwar for proper treatment. The opposite party No. 2 is neither a Cardiologist, nor a Physician, but he only prescribes Ayurvedic medicines. The District Magistrate, Haridwar got the matter investigated through Chief Medical Officer, Haridwar and it was found that there was medical negligence in the treatment of complainant’s son. Thus, alleging medical negligence and deficiency in service on the part of opposite party Nos. 1 and 2, the complain