BANGALORE: The Karnataka State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed a medical specialist and a private hospital in Mysore to pay a compensation of Rs. 1 lakh to a patient who was compelled to undergo four surgeries following negligence on the part of a medical specialist in the removal of a kidney stone.

The doctor and the hospital concerned have been directed to pay Rs. 5,000 towards costs to the patient. They have been asked to pay the compensation within two months failing which they would have to pay the compensation along with an interest of nine per cent from the date the complaint was lodged.

The commission comprising president, Justice Chandrashekaraiah, and members, Rama Ananth and M. Shama Bhat, heard at length the complaint of B.N. Rajesh, resident of Kalhalli in Mandya district. Mr. Rajesh had earlier approached the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, which dismissed the complaint. Thereafter, Mr. Rajesh filed a complaint with the State Commission against Madappa, nephrologist and urologist at the J.S.S. Hospital, and also against the administrative officer of the hospital.

The charge against the specialist was that the patient had to undergo four surgeries while a simple operation would have helped the patient. Mr. Rajesh had first approached the doctor in January 2002. An operation was performed in February 2002. With the patient suffering pain in the stomach, the medical specialist conducted a third operation in September 2003. The patient thereafter underwent a fourth operation at another hospital in Mandya, which provided him relief. A scan report at the Mandya hospital revealed that there was a small stent causing him the pain. He sued the medical specialist and the Mysore hospital seeking a compensation of Rs. 3 lakh for the sufferings he had undergone over two years.

In his reply, the medical specialist said it was the negligence on the part of the patient which had resulted in the problem. The patient had not cared to have a follow-up consultation with him after surgery, he said.

In another case, the commission directed the Udaya Nursing Home and gynaecologist Udaya Shetty of Chitradurga to pay a compensation of Rs. 3 lakh to N. Thimmaiah and another Rs. 2 lakh to Deeksha (his daughter). In the view of the commission, B.C. Manjula, wife of Thimmaiah, died at the hospital following negligence on the part of the medical staff concerned.

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