Which corporate hospital in Hyderabad has the best Facebook Cover image? “Integrity is the ability to stand by an idea.” ― Ayn Rand,  The Fountainhead Most of you thought it is Apollo Health City's Facebook cover image but it's not. Surprised? Read on.  Though Apollo Health City Facebook page has 65k followers, using a generic campaign creative on its cardiac treatment expertise looks vague. My feeling is that either a patient or a star heart transplant surgeon should have been at the heart of the cover image. In case of the latter, my bet is on Dr Alla Gopala Krishna Gokhale, Cardio Thoracic Surgeon, who could have been featured instead but the management may be wary of a doctor becoming bigger than the hospital. This creative goes well with the violet color of Care Hospitals but the designer should have run a spell-check on November! By the way, lung cancer being the most common cancer in Indian men could be factually incorrect. It s...

Can a doctor be held negligent simply because something went wrong?


 These days, medical negligence cases are filed in consumer fora left and right without any merits.

Take for instance, the case of Gracia Samuel, 53-year- old, a resident of  Sainikpuri, Secunderabad. She was brought to Raghavendra Hospital with multiple complaints of breathlessness, blood transfusion, dialysis on 21-09-2010 at 05:00 A.M.

Her husband, John Samuel, filed a case with consumer forum against the hospital management after Gracia died while undergoing treatment at NIMS hospital.

He had filed the case under section 12 of Consumer Protection Act 1986, praying the Consumer Forum to direct Raghavendra Hospital to pay compensation of Rs.19,00,000/- (Rupees nineteen lakh only) to the Complainant with 24% interest with effect from 15-11-2010 with cost of Rs.5,000/- (Rupees five thousand only).

The hospital management dubbed it a bad case and denied all allegations of negligence. The hospital claimed that the complainant pleaded to start treatment though he did not have money for treatment and was waiting for his son to come to take a decision as to whether treatment should be continued or to shift the patient to NIMS,

When the patient landed at the hospital, she was serious with Blood Pressure- 60/50 (Normal 120/80), Pulse rate 147 (normal-72), respiration rate – 29 (Normal-20). The hospital claimed that realizing her condition they intensified treatment and shifted the patient to ICU directly though the patient has not paid any money.

The hospital started off the treatment by putting the patient on oxygen inhalation IV cannula  was fixed injection Zofer was given intravenously, injection Panfast Intravenous, Injection Monocef 1 gm intravenous given, injection Lasix was given.

During the treatment, the patient's random blood sugar was noted to be 80 millimeter and the patient was put on multi parameter monitor to know reading of respiratory rate, heart rate and oxygen concentration in blood.

The Consumer Forum dismissed the case in April, 2017 holding that a doctor is not to be held negligent simply because something went wrong. He can be held liable only, if he falls below the standard of a reasonable competent practitioner in his field.

The consequent death of the complainant's wife at a later point of time cannot be held to be having any direct nexus with her treatment at the Opposite Party hospital, in the absence of any cogent evidence. There has been no liability that can be fastened upon the hospital.


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