NIRMALA R PARAB Vs. KALPANA DESAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The complainant Shri Rajaram S. Parab is the father of Mrs. Ashwini Rane, and he filed this complaint on behalf of his daughter, who is like a living vegetable and is unable to understand anything around her. The case of the complainant is that his daughter Mrs. Ashwini A. Rane was under medical treatment and care of opposite party No.1, Dr. Kalpana Desai from fifth month of her pregnancy since she had a previous history of thrice miscarriages in the seventh month of pregnancy and opposite party No.1 had put sutures on the womb of the patient and informed the complainant that sutures will be removed on 2nd May, 1990 and the approximate date of delivery would be 12th May, 1990.

(2.) On 23rd April, 1990, Mrs. Ashwini Rane was admitted to Clinic of opposite party No.1 in Matunga, with labour pains and was informed by opposite party No.1 that an immediate caesarian operation was necessary. Opposite party No.2, Dr. Janak V. Golwala was called in to attend by opposite party No.1 and at 1.00 p. m. Mrs. Rane delivered a baby boy. Within a span of half an hour, four doctors rushed into the operation theatre and after repeated enquiries with the nurses, the complainant was told that the patient may need to be admitted to another hospital where better equipment and facilities for emergency treatment were available as the blood pressure had suddenly fallen and so is the pulse. The patient was shifted accordingly to the Mata Laxmi Hospital in Sion in ICCU in unconscious state. After five days, complainant shifted his daughter to Lion Bappa Hospital on the advice of opposite party No.1 as he could not afford the high expenses. He had shifted the patient again after 18 days to the Lokmanya Tilak Hospital at Sion as the patient was still in coma. Eventually the doctors told him to shift the patient to his home with the hope that she might regain consciousness in the homely atmosphere. His daughter is aliving vegetable in bed at house and is being treated still by Dr. Ramani, Dr. Yogesh Parikh and Dr. B. S. Podwal.

(3.) According to the complainant, the patient is reduced to this stage of brain death due to hypoxia of brain. As per the MRI done on 30th April, 1990, "diffuse/swelling involving the grey matter in the high convexity region, probably due to hyposis with generalised narrowing of the verticles suggesting cerebral oedema". It is his case that high spinal anaesthesia was administered against the suggested quantity of xylocain (Anaesthesia) being 8 cc. , whereas opposite party No.2 administered 1.2 cc. of xylocain, which is an admitted fact. Complainant argued that this excess dose of anaesthesia caused cardio accelerator fibres blocked and the sympathetic fibres at the thoracic level became immobilised resulting in only the vagal action of the heart. Due to this, the blood kept accumulating in the periphery which explains the blood pressure fall and hence the consequent cut of blood supply to the brain causing the patient to go into coma.