The patient was at high-risk, and admitted under the care of a senior surgeon. The surgery was complex. The outcome was fatal.
But it wasn’t just the death that caught the court’s eye — it was who was handling things when it happened.
When critical patients are passed down the chain, accountability climbs up.
Irrefutable Facts
The patient was admitted to the hospital under the doctor’s care. The patient suffered from multiple health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and a history of being treated for pulmonary tuberculosis.
The patient was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in the right-sided buccal mucosa and underwent surgery at the hospital. On the following night, the patient experienced respiratory distress and passed away the next morning.
The hospital did not conduct post-mortem (PM) examination and issued a death certificate citing the cause of death as cardiorespiratory failure.
Patient’s family sued the doctor and hospital, alleging that although the patient was admitted under the doctor’s care, the surgery was performed by a junior doctor.
One of the other allegations was that the hospital informed attendants that PM was a long process; therefore, patient’s dead body was collected with a death certificate without opting for PM.
Doctor’s Plea
The hospital and doctor stated in defence that the surgery was considered high-risk with a guarded prognosis, and the patient received regular care from on-duty doctors during the post-operative period.
Court’s Observations
The court held the doctor negligent, under whose care the patient was admitted, for delegating the responsibility of patient’s post-operative care of a major surgery to a junior doctor rather than entrusting it to any other senior consultant.
The court dismissed the defence that the attendants refused a PM examination and held the doctor negligent for not determining the actual cause of the patient’s death by referring the dead body for PM.
The court held the doctors and the hospital negligent.
Prevention Is Better Than Cure
- In absence of the treating doctor, the responsibility of a high-risk / critical patient should be entrusted to a senior consultant, who is equally competent to manage the patient. Failure to do so could be construed as negligence.
- If the cause of death is uncertain, the patient’s dead body must be sent for a PM examination. Consent from the patient’s attendants is not necessary. If the attendants refuse / disagree, then a written request should be obtained from them. This fact must be specifically documented.
Source : Uma Mondal v/s Dr. S. Mukherjee & Anr.
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