File photo of Madras Hight Court.
The Madras High Court today directed the Tamil Nadu government to pay Rs five lakh as compensation to the family of a 13-year-old girl who died in 2006 due to medical negligence by three doctors at a government hospital at Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam district.
"This is an unfortunate case of medical negligence which has resulted in the loss of a precious life of a young girl, hardly aged 13 years," Justice Nagamuthu said, while underlining that the fundamental right to life was at the heart of the Constitution.
The prosecution case was that Sudhasini was brought to the hospital in July 2006 with stomach pain and diarrhea. There were three doctors on duty, one of whom attended on her and diagnosed it as amoebic diarrhea. The girl, however, breathed her last a few hours later.
Following protests and complaints by the girl's relatives, the deputy director of medical services held an inquiry and filed a report which said all three doctors two men and a woman - "have shown negligence in the non-implementation of requisite treatment".
The report said the doctor had misdiagnosed and that the first aid given by him was not proper. Immediate referral to a secondary or tertiary centre could have saved the child. Her imminent shock could have been noticed if blood pressure and pulse had really been recorded, the report said, adding an emergency surgery might have saved her.
The judge rejected state Public Prosecutor S Shanmugavelayudham's contention that as per the Supreme Court ruling, Rs 20,000 could be paid as compensation and pointed out that the girl was studying in Class VIII at the time of her death, which was not due to natural cause.