Mumbai: Man loses sight for a year, hospital fined Rs 2 lakh

It wasn't exactly ‘an eye for an eye', but an Andheri man finally got justice after he lost sight in his left eye for an entire year due to a doctor's negligence. Three years after his ordeal, a consumer court yesterday ordered the hospital and the doctor to pay him Rs 2 lakh in compensation.

Back story
On December 24, 2013 Bhagwan Gangaram More underwent a surgery on his left eye at at Gurunanak Quin-Centenary Memorial Hospital Trust and Research Centre, Baba Jivan Singh Diagnostic Centre. The operation was done by Dr DH Narain, and by the end of it, More had lost sight in the eye.

More got a second opinion from JJ Hospital, where he was told that he had lost his eyesight because of medical negligence.

So, on April 20, 2014, More confronted Dr Narain about it, and filed a complaint at Bhoiwada police station.

He also filed a complaint before the consumer court, demanding compensation of R8 lakh with interest.

The hospital and doctor both states that as a charitable trust, they had charged More a concessionary amount (R6,100 for operation, plus Rs 100 for consultation). They claimed there was no deficiency in service and More was not entitled for relief.

Court's observation
More eventually recovered vision in his left eye after a year, so the court did not award him the full amount he had demanded. However, Judge BS Wasekar and member HK Bhaise of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Central Mumbai, observed: "The medical evidence produced by More is sufficient to show that he had not performed his duties with reasonable skill and competence as required from an eye surgeon. More was suffering for one year due to negligence of Dr Narain."

Accordingly, the court told the hospital and doctor to hand Rs 2 lakh to More along with interest at the rate of 9% per annum. They were also fined another Rs 10,000 as court fees.