CMRI to pay Rs 10 lakh as fine for negligence over child's death

Kolkata: West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) on Friday imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Calcutta Medical Research Institute (CMRI) in the city after the commission found some irregularities on the part of the hospital.

During its investigation, the WBCERC came to know that the private hospital had engaged a doctor as a pediatric surgeon, who possesses degrees like MS, but not recognised by the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC).

The accused doctor had treated a new born, who had some complications, including passing of stool, and conducted three surgeries on the baby with a gap of a few months.

Firdaus Jahan was admitted to CMRI and gave birth to a boy child on April 1 in 2017. Right after birth the infant faced problems while passing stool. Thereafter, the patient was referred to Dr Biswajit Bhaduri, who had been attached to the hospital as a pediatric surgeon. On April 3, the doctor told the family members of the patient that the infant was required to undergo an immediate surgery.

The family members were informed by the hospital that the patient was suffering from non-passing of stool as there was gangrene in his intestine.

It was said surgery was needed to create a stoma for passing stool.

After the baby recovers, another surgery would be conducted to reverse the stoma so that the infant can pass stool in a natural process.

On April 10, the first surgery was conducted on the patient to create the stoma and later discharged from the hospital. For the next three months, the patient was under the treatment of that doctor.

The second operation was performed on the patient on July 11 of the same year after which the baby started suffering from high fever and his body was found to be swollen.

An X-ray was conducted on the patient and the doctor suggested to go for another surgery (third) to create a parallel line inside his abdomen. The family members of the baby lodged a complaint at the local police station after a member was allegedly forced to sign on a white paper by the hospital authorities. The baby eventually died and the family members registered a compliant with the WBCERC.

After conducting a probe, the commission found that the degree obtained by the doctor from an institution abroad is not recognised by the MCI and the WBMC. The hospital authorities have been asked to pay compensation.

In another judgement, the WBCERC asked Spandan Diagnostic Centre to pay Rs 5,000 to the family members of a patient whose blood test report came out wrong in November 23 in 2017. The diagnostic centre also failed to submit 'Run Validity Record' to the WBCERC.