Pay compensation to man who lost vision during surgery: Supreme Court to doctor

New Delhi: In relief to an 84-year-old man who lost vision in his left eye during a medical surgery, the Supreme Court has ordered the doctor involved to pay a compensation of Rs 2 lakh with a 12 percent interest rate per annum for medical negligence.

A bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta also imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on Dr. R.P. Singh for making a false representation that the amount of compensation had been paid to the complainant.

As per complainant P.C. Jain, he suffered loss of vision in his left eye owing to the gross medical negligence committed by the respondent-doctor during a surgical procedure conducted in 2002–2003.

Holding the medical practitioner guilty of medical negligence, the Faridabad District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in 2008 ordered payment of Rs 2 lakh compensation with interest at 12 percent p.a. from the date of filing of the complaint till the date of realisation.

However, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission reduced the interest awarded from 12 percent to 6 percent, observing that the rate of interest so applied was on the higher side.

In its judgement passed on January 29, the Supreme Court ordered the respondent-doctor to pay the compensation within two months, failing which the interest shall stand enhanced to 15 percent per annum. It was noted that the appellant-complainant has been contesting long-drawn-out litigation for a rightful claim of compensation for more than 20 years.

Earlier, the Ethics Committee of the Medical Council of India (MCI) also held that Dr. Singh was in violation of the Professional Misconduct, Etiquette, and Ethics Regulation, 2012, and recommended the removal of his name from the Indian Medical Register for a period of six months. (IANS)

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