ORDER

Appeared at the time of arguments:

For the Complainant       :       Mr. Deepanker Mohan, Advocate

For the Opposite Parties :       Mr. Subhash Kumar, Advocate with

                                              Dr. Sudhir Khanna, OP-1                                                                                         

Pronounced on:  29^th  March  2023             

ORDER

Dr. S. M. KANTIKAR, MEMBER

1.     Smt. Urmila Devi (since deceased, for short, the ‘patient’) consulted Dr. Sudhir Khanna (Opposite Party No. 1) at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (for short, the ‘SGRH’) - Opposite Party No. 6, who diagnosed her condition as “Retroperitoneal Fibrosis with Bilateral Hydroureteronephrosis”. On 24.04.2013, "Bilateral Double J Stenting" – a minor procedure was performed in SGRH and she was discharged on the next day. For permanent relief, the Opposite Party No. 1 suggested the "Robotic Ureterolysis" surgery and gave estimation of Rs. 1,50,000/- as charges. The surgery was scheduled for the last week of June, 2013. As the patient was anaemic – Hb 8.9gm %, the physician  Dr. Anurag Gupta treated the patient from 18.06.2013 till 26.08.2013. The Hb % improved to 9.9 gm % and the date of surgery was fixed on 04.09.2013. The Opposite Party No. 1 did not inform about the need of blood transfusion for surgery.

2.     On 04.09.2013 the patient was taken to Operation Theatre (OT) at 7.00 a.m. for the surgery. It was alleged that during the procedure, Dr. Khanna negligently cut the external iliac artery, which resulted into heavy blood loss. He instead of repairing the cut of iliac artery, continued with the surgery for further three hours by applying haem clips only.  He did not call the vascular surgeon for artery repair. Later on, when the situation became out of control and complicated, the Opposite Party No. 1 obtained the consent of the patient’s husband for open surgery. He had not disclosed about injury of iliac artery. Dr. V. S. Bedi, the Vascular Surgeon (Opposite Party No. 4) was called to repair the iliac artery, but it was too late (3 hours of the injury). It was alleged that the patient suffered heavy blood loss about more than 3 litres, which further led to Acute Renal Failure (ARF). It was further alleged that the Opposite Party No. 1 was performing this Robotic surgery for the first time and he was not qualified and had no experience in the said procedure. This fact was concealed by the Opposite Parties from the patient and her family members. Due to careless and negligent act, the external iliac artery was cut. Thus it was gross negligence. Even after knowing the cut, he applied haemo clips on the main vessel and continued the operation. Dr. V.S. Bedi, with his team, performed Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) bypass grafting to the damaged artery which caused further blood loss. Within two days, the patient was given 15 units of packed RBCs (PRBC), 14 units of Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP) and few units of other blood components. After the operation, the patient was shifted to ICU, the doctors gave fake assurance that the patient’s condition was stable. Thereafter, Dr. Sudhir Khanna went abroad, leaving behind the patient in the hands of other doctors. It was alleged that the Opposite Party No. 1 and his team was aware about Haemophilia Carrier state of the patient, but the doctors failed to administer anti-Haemophilic Factor VIII or Cryoprecipitate prior to and / or after surgery. Thus, it led to continuous blood loss and ultimately, the death. Thereafter, the patient was kept on dialysis & ventilator from 05.09.2013. It was followed by Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT). Thereafter, on 06.09.2013, the patient suffered cardiac arrests twice, he was revived. Again he suffered, 3^rd cardiac arrest, but despite meticulous CPR efforts, the patient expired and declared dead at 3.40pm. He further alleged that he was compelled to pay Rs. 4,16,000/- against the agreed cost of Rs. 1,50,000/-, however after long arguments, the hospital