KAVERI BLOOD BANK Vs. ASIYA SULTANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Aggrieved by the order in C.C.No.704/2003 on the file of District Forum-I, Hyderabad, opposite party No.2 preferred F.A.No.1699/2007 and opposite parties 1 and 3 preferred F.A.No.1777/2007. Since both the appeals arise out of the same C.D. they are being disposed of by a common order:

(2.) The brief facts as set out in the complaint are that the complainant went to opposite party No.1 on 12-6-2002 for gynaec problem who after examination advised operation to avert cancerous effect. Opposite party No.1 also advised the patient to have blood transfusion before operation since her hemoglobin level was low and referred her to opposite party No.2, blood bank for testing her blood group and after conducting tests, the patient was informed that he blood group is B positive and by charging Rs.800/-, the blood was sold under a receipt. The blood supplied by opposite party No.2 was transfused to her by opposite party No.1 and she was advised to come for check up on 15-6-2002. On 13-6-2002, the complainant had suffocation and discomfort and she was taken to opposite party No.1 for examination, and she stated she requires blood. On 14-6-2002 the patients uneasiness continued and she again contacted opposite party No.1, who expressed that it was due to weakness and advised one more bottle of blood to be transfused and accordingly she contacted opposite party No.2 who gave one more bottle of blood which was transfused. On 16-6-2002 and thereafter her condition aggravated and the complainant rushed to opposite party No.1 hospital who advised to have one more bottle of blood to be transfused and asked her to come on the next day. On 17-6-2002 the complainant was admitted in opposite party no.1 hospital and the complainants husband contacted opposite party no.2 for one more bottle of blood and the same was transfused. On 18-6-2002, opposite party No.1 conducted the operation and removed the uterus of the complainant and after operation one more bottle was required to be transfused and as opposite party No.2 was not having the stock of B positive blood, the complainants husband was informed to go to Koti branch and get the same and telephoned to Koti branch to give B positive blood. Thereupon the complainants husband went to Cauveri blood bank, Koti branch with blood sample of complainant given by opposite party No.1 where the Manager informed that the sample is not relating to the complainants blood group since the blood sample shows A positive group and directed the complainant to verify again from opposite party No.1. Accordingly opposite party No.1 conducted blood test and it revealed that the complainants blood group was A positive and not satisfied with the said result and as per the directions of opposite party no.1, the complainant got checked her blood with Vijaya Diagnostics Center, Hyderabad and there also it was found that the complainant blood group was A positive. It is the case of the complainant that opposite party No.1 injected wrong blood group to her without conducting proper blood test and on 18-6-2002 at about 10.00 a.m., the complainant became very serious and the blood was oozing through urinal track and she also suffered chest pain and difficulty in breathing. On examining the complainants condition, opposite party No.1 expressed her inability to bring the complainant to normal condition and cannot assure her life, and put her in 24 hours observation. Some time later her condition became normal and again on 20-6-2002 the complainants blood was rechecked and it was found A positive and then it was confirmed that because of mismatching of blood, the complainants condition became serious and on insistence of the complainants husband, the complainant was referred to CDR hospital and was discharged from opposite party No.1 hospital on payment of Rs.16,000/-. Dr.Ravi Kumar, Hematologist conducted primary check on 26-6-2002 and consulted other experts and diagnosed that the complication is permanent and not curable due to mismatched blood transfusion, which was due to negligence of opposite parties. Dr.Ravi Kumar advised the complainant to avoid life saving drugs such as Aspirin, Oxyphenbutazine etc and the complainant was under the advise of Dr.Ravi Kumar. The complainant was prescribed Venpfer injection which costs Rs.1175/- with other combination which comes to Rs.2,500/- to one injection and in total six injections were used. The complainant also spent a sum of Rs.90,000/- towards medicines and other expenses for treatment. A legal notice dated 24-10-2002 was got issued to the opposite parties claiming compensation of Rs.5 lakhs for which a reply was sent without any proper explanation. Subsequently on 24-10-2002 the complainant submitted that she developed swelling and pin on low backache for which she spent another sum of Rs.7,151/- and the reports showed that the kidneys were affected which was due to mis-match of blood. The complainant submitted that she spent Rs.15,000/- towards transportation and other expenses. Hence the complaint for a direction to the opposite parties to pay Rs.5,26,689/- together with costs.

(3.) Opposite party No.1 filed counter and admitted that in January, 2002 the complainant came to her with a complaint of profuse bleeding during periods and was advised to undergo surgery i.e. Hysterectomy and since the patient was anemic, she was advised blood transfusion. The complainant went to Cauvery blood bank and her blood was tested to be B positive and came with one bottle of B positive blood which was transfused, there was no reaction and the complainant was discharged in the evening. She was readmitted on 17-6-2002 and Hysterectomy was performed on 18-6-2002 at 11.00 am and there was no problem for the surgery whatsoever and intra-operatively she was given one unit of cross matched B positive blood which was brought from Cauvery blood bank and there was no reaction during surgery. The general condition and B.P. were normal. After surgery, the anesthetist advised to give one more unit of blood and when the complainants attendants were informed to bring blood and as Cauveri blood bank at Minister Road did not have B positive blood they were referred to Koti branch. Fresh sample of patient blood was sent at 4 pm to Cauvery blood bank and they telephoned to opposite party informing that the blood group was A positive and therefore the complainants blood was again tested at opposite party hospital and at Vijaya Diagnostic Center and they reported as A positive. Opposite party No.1 submitted that all through the complainants urine output was monitored after surgery by keeping indwelling catheter and collecting urine in uro-sac and opposite party No.1 spoke Dr.V.N.Waghrey, Senior physician and also Dr.Girish Narayan for their opinion and on the advise of nephrologists, the general condition of the complainant remained stable. She had an uneventful postoperative recovery and sutures were removed and wound healed and her general condition was good but she was anemic and after recuperating, she was discharged. Opposite party no.1 referred the complainant to Dr.Ravi Kumar, Hematologist who found iron deficiency and advised IV iron transfusion. Opposite party No.1 submitted that as per the prescription she was given Venofer 1 amp in 500 CC of Glucose and she was discharged on the same day and submitted that she was anemic but her condition was normal and submitted that there is no deficiency of service on her behalf.