The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Hospital told to pay Rs. 50,000 compensation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 16, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Hospital told to pay Rs. 50,000 compensation

K.T.Sangameswaran

SHRC faults staff for rights violations "The DME should constitute a committee to find out those responsible and take action"

CHENNAI : The State Human Rights Commission has recommended the payment of Rs.50,000 as compensation to the family of a woman of T. Nagar here who died at the Government Hospital for Women and Children, Egmore, for the human rights violations committed by the doctors and staff nurses.

In his order, the Commission Member, S. Sambandham, also recommended that the Health Department should recover the compensation amount from the salaries and other allowances of the delinquent doctors and staff nurses.

The Director of Medical Education should constitute a committee to find out those responsible for the rights violations and take necessary action.

A. Murugan, a labourer, complained to the rights body that his wife, Sankari, was admitted to the hospital in April 2003 for childbirth and after delivery, she did not return to normalcy. She was discharged.

As her condition became worse, she was admitted to the hospital again.

A second operation was performed. She died later.

Mr. Sambandham said even though the case was pending before the rights body for more than two years, neither the discharge summary nor the enquiry report of the Deputy Director of Family Welfare was submitted to the Commission for perusal as directed by it. The Hospital Director did not seem to have passed any order on the petition by the woman's brother, Sekar, about the indifferent attitude of the medical staff and the treatment given.

In spite of reminders, the discharge summary was not submitted.

The allegations found in the complaint, the copy of the FIR registered by police based on the complaint by Mr. Murugan and the copy of the complaint given by Mr. Sekar to the Director clearly showed that there was negligence on the part of the doctors and staff nurses working at the maternity hospital, Mr. Sambandham said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail