A recent medicolegal case which was heard in the Hon. Orissa High Court highlights an instance in which a doctor failed to inform patient of risks of suggested treatment. The patient eventually died, but the doctor was cleared of ‘culpable homicide’ charges.

The accusation

• Susanta Kumar Takur filed a complaint claiming that the MD Gynecologist- who owns a private nursing home was responsible for the death of his wife at delivery time.
• It’s alleged that the doctor, at the time of check-up placed a tablet within the woman’s vagina which caused heavy vaginal watery discharge. She was then given saline and an injection. The doctor, it’s later tried to pull the baby out of the womb using forceps. This caused profuse bleeding because of uterine rupture.
• Only normal delivery could be performed in the nursing home and not C-sections. However, the doctor kept assuring that it’s going to be a normal delivery.
• The patient was referred to the district headquarters hospital in Bolangir. However, it’s said that she didn’t receive proper treatment there as well, resulting in the death of the unborn child and the mother.
• The doctor denied the charges of negligence, saying post mortem wasn’t performed to ascertain the facts. At the time of admission, it’s said, the patient was diagnosed as a case of “Abruptio Placentae.”

What the court held

• As per the OPD register, the patient was diagnosed as G3P2 in labour with antepartum haemorrhage.
• The court observed that even though the medical practitioner knew that the nursing home lacked facilities to deal with a caesarian, he kept the patient in the nursing home, assuring a normal delivery even as he was aware of the complications.
• It was observed that trying the forceps resulted in the rupture of the uterus, causing severe bleeding, worsening her condition. In the nursing centre, the foreceps delivery wasn’t appropriate.
• It’s observed that the doctor failed to exercise his skills with reasonable competence. Neither did he adopt the practice acceptable to the medical profession of the day. The doctor had the duty to explain to his patient or the complainant about the chances of success and risks about the suggested treatment.
• But the doctor is cleared of ‘culpable homicide’ charges since for that, 1) he must have done an act with the intent to cause death, 2) with the aim to cause bodily injury that could cause death, or 3) with the knowledge that the doer is likely to cause death by such an action.
• It cannot be substantiated that the petitioner possessed conclusive knowledge that the doctor’s action caused enough harm to cause the patient’s death.

   Send article as PDF