Case Law: Court Orders Hospital To Compensate For Fabricating Truth

FACTS:

Ashalata, a seventy five year old lady, had complains of loose motion and vomiting. She was taken to Nabajiban Hospital where she was admitted first in ITU and then shifted to ICU once she was diagnosed with a heart ailment. The family members were obviously worried about her and were present during her stay at the hospital.

During one of the nights, the relatives observed that the air-conditioner was too close to bed on which the patient was resting and that made her shiver tremendously. Despite several requests, hospital staff shifted the patient to another bed only the next morning. The septuagenarian unfortunately died a day after.

ALLEGATIONS:

Shocked by the death of their mother figure, the patient’s relatives sued the hospital and alleged that the patient was shifted to another bed even as the air-conditioner was as close as two feet from her and she was shivering because of the cold. The second and even more serious allegation was that the hospital fabricated patient’s sputum test report with a whitener and erased the doctor’s name.

HOSPITAL’S DEFENSE:

The hospital presented a shoddy and weak defines. It was stated that the patient was shifted as soon as possible and that there was a printing error and hence the whitener was used to make corrections.

COURT HELD:

The Commission quashed hospital’s defence and stated the following: “The sputum examination test report clearly and conclusively establishes that the name of patient, age, date, date of collection of sample and duties of other related information concerned in the report were done by erasing the name of another male patient. We are astonished to know that such a malpractice was done by the hospital for realizing a meagre amount. Accordingly we are convinced that the patient was nothing but a victim of deficiency of service as well as unfair trade practice”. The hospital was ordered to compensate more than Rs 2 Lacs for the same.