Compensation granted by district consumer forum for negligence in COVID treatment

Recently, a district consumer forum in Madhya Pradesh directed a hospital to pay compensation of around ₹12 lakhs along with interest of 9% per annum for medical negligence in COVID treatment. Read the order here.

The consumer forum noted that there were deficiencies in the hospital’s conduct as -

  1. RTPCR test was not done to confirm the finding of COVID.
  2. 8 remdesivir injections were administered to the patient whereas the government guidelines prescribed a maximum of 6 injections.
  3. a homeopathic doctor was employed for treatment in an allopathic hospital.
  4. the hospital charged higher rates for various tests than the government prescribed limits. Moreover, there were discrepancies in the dates mentioned on the bills.

The forum further noted that the insurance taken by the hospital had an exclusionary clause for the pandemic and therefore the forum held that the liability can not be imposed on the insurance company.

The forum relied on various established precedents by the Supreme Court to calculate the compensation granted to the complainant.

It is important to note that the judgement has been passed by a district forum and would be subject to appeal before appellate forums.

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