KARACHI: After a consumer court ordered a leading hospital and its doctor to pay damages — along with legal costs and compensation — to a complainant over “alleged negligence” during childbirth, the hospital said on Wednesday that it would be appealing the decision.

On Tuesday, Judicial Magistrate of Consumer Protection Court (East) Fahmida Sahoowal had ordered the two defendants to pay Rs10 million as damages, Rs5 million as compensation for their “negligence and breach of duty of care”, and Rs250,000 as the cost of the suit to the plaintiff, Rija Hasan.

The suit, instituted under the Sindh Consumer Protection Act 2014 (SCPA), sought damages for alleged negligence, defective services, mental agony and return of amount paid in the hospital in terms of bills over the faulty services rendered.

In its order, the court noted that the complainant falls under the definition of a ‘consumer’ to whom the respondents provided services in terms of the SCPA, 2014.

Hospital spokesperson says they will appeal against the decision

The magistrate held the defendants “liable for their gross negligence in rendering service” to the plaintiff and they failed to comply with mandatory provisions of the Sindh Service Delivery Standards for Hospitals, which apply to them.

However, in a statement issued on Wednesday, the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) said that had taken notice of the court order and decided to appeal the decision.

“At present, our legal team… does not deem it appropriate to comment on a matter that is sub-judice,” a spokesperson for the hospital said.

According to the plaintiff, she was admitted for normal delivery at the hospital on Jan 13, 2023. She claimed that she had informed staff that her husband was away and asked them to allow her mother and mother-in-law to be present in the labour room for the delivery, a request she maintains was denied.

She said she faced difficulties during labour, while the hospital staff kept “insisting that they can do nothing” without the doctor’s permission. However, the doctor “remained absent” from the labour room, she claimed.

After giving birth, the complainant claimed that her child was shifted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) due to “fetal distress”, caused by the doctor’s “negligence and breach of duty care”.

In a joint statement submitted to the court, the defendants had denied all the allegations, claiming that the doctor had regularly visited the labour ward and was also present for the delivery. They also denied the plaintiff’s claim, saying that her mother-in-law was allowed to meet her in the labour room.

Rejecting the claim of “negligence”, the defendants stated that the baby’s condition required it to be incubated and put on a ventilator to save his life, which was done “promptly without wasting any time.”

The baby was discharged after a week with instructions for a follow-up with the neonatologist in one week and a paediatric neonatologist in one month, the statement said, adding that the complainant did not bring the child to hospital as instructed.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2024