The state clinical establishment regulatory commission on Tuesday
asked Fortis Hospital and the Institute of Neurosciences to pay Rs 10 lakh penalty to
the families of two patients who passed away at the hospitals.
Ashim Banerjee, chairperson of the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission, said Fortis was “negligent” and the Institute of Neurosciences, Park Circus, had “infrastructure deficiency” to deal with a patient who collapsed after an MRI.
Banerjee said the woman who was admitted to Fortis had ectopic pregnancy but did not receive the care that she required.
A gynaecologist who had examined the woman before she was admitted to the hospital had mentioned in medical documents that she was a suspected patient of ectopic pregnancy.
Fortis, however, admitted her under a general surgeon, not a gynaecologist.
“This is negligence on behalf of the hospital. The woman was under the treatment of a gynaecologist. The gynaecologist had written that it was a suspected case of ectopic pregnancy. Despite all these facts, the woman was not admitted under a gynaecologist,” Banerjee said.
“She went to Fortis Emergency. The medical officer admitted her under a general surgeon. She did not receive the care that a patient of ectopic pregnancy should receive,” Banerjee said.
“We have asked the hospital to pay a penalty of Rs 10 lakh to the woman’s family,” he said.
Fortis Hospital did not respond to requests from this newspaper for a comment on the commission’s order.
The commission also imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on the Institute of Neurosciences.
A college student who underwent an MRI scan at the hospital collapsed soon after the test. She eventually passed away at the hospital.
Banerjee said the MRI machine was not in the building that houses the Emergency department. There were no critical care doctors to deal with the patient and the hospital took about 30 minutes to shift the patient for treatment, Banerjee said.
The hospital told the commission that the MRI was uneventful and the girl collapsed after the test.
“The building where the MRI was done had two doctors. One was a neuro-rehabilitation specialist and the other doctor was from another stream. No critical care expert who could have managed the girl was present,” said Banerjee.
“Code Blue was declared. The two doctors tried to intubate the patient but they could not,” Banerjee said.
Code Blue means a patient has suffered a cardiac or respiratory arrest.
“It took 30 minutes to shift the girl for treatment. The golden hour was lost in the process. There was infrastructure deficiency,” he said.
An official at the Institute of Neurosciences said they did not want to comment without going through the order. “We have heard about the order but will not want to comment on it till we receive a copy,” the official said.