Private hospital in Coimbatore directed to pay 6.35 lakh to woman for medical negligence
Coimbatore: The Coimbatore District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed a private hospital to pay ₹5 lakh as compensation and ₹1.35 lakh towards medical expenses to a woman who contracted Hepatitis B following a blood transfusion during her admission for delivery.
According to official sources, Malathi of Coimbatore visited a hospital on Puliakulam Road for regular check-ups and treatment during her pregnancy to ensure the health of her baby.
During a visit on October 3, 2022, she was advised to undergo a blood test. The test report showed the presence of HBsAg (Hepatitis B surface antigen) in her blood was non-reactive.
She gave birth to her child on May 2, 2023. During the postnatal period, she experienced a blood loss of 1,000 ml.
As a result, the attending doctor arranged for a transfusion of one unit of packed red cells from the hospital's own blood bank. She was discharged later that day.
After discharge, Malathi began experiencing joint pain and subsequently consulted another hospital.
As per the doctor's advice, she underwent a blood test on August 1, 2023. To her shock, the report showed that HBsAg was positive, confirming that she contracted Hepatitis B.
Between April 30 and August 1, 2023, she was not admitted to, nor did she take any medication from, any other hospital apart from the one on Puliakulam Road.
She also stated that she never suffered from jaundice or any liver-related disease prior to the current diagnosis. Malathi and her family were reportedly traumatised by her illness, which affected her liver.
Following this, she filed a complaint with the Coimbatore District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. In its ruling, commission president R Thangavel and members P Marimuthu and G Suguna directed the private hospital to pay ₹1.35 lakh towards medical expenses and ₹5 lakh as compensation for the mental agony and emotional trauma caused by the hospital's negligence and deficiency in service. Additionally, the hospital was ordered to pay ₹5,000 towards the cost of the proceedings.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News18
3 days ago
- News18
Free The Doctor Who Helped Track Down Osama Bin Laden, US Congressman Tells Bilawal Bhutto
Last Updated: Dr Shakil Afridi, who helped the CIA locate Osama Bin Laden, remains imprisoned in Pakistan with US Congressman Brad Sherman urging Pakistan to release him To the United States, he is a hero who played a crucial role in one of the most consequential manhunts in modern history. To Pakistan, he's a traitor whose actions embarrassed the nation and revealed gaping holes in its security establishment. Fourteen years on, Dr Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who aided the CIA in tracking down Osama Bin Laden, continues to languish in a prison cell with his fate sealed in secrecy, politics, and silence. Now, his case has returned to the diplomatic spotlight. US Congressman Brad Sherman reignited the call for Dr Afridi's release, urging a Pakistani delegation led by former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to press Pakistan to free the incarcerated doctor. Releasing Dr Afridi would be a meaningful gesture, especially for the families who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks, Sherman said. His plea underscores a longstanding strain in US-Pakistan relations over the issue. Who Is Dr Shakil Afridi? Dr Shakil Afridi was a government doctor in the restive Khyber tribal region when he was approached to run a vaccination campaign; not for public health, but for espionage. Under the guise of a hepatitis B immunisation drive, Dr Afridi's job was to collect DNA samples from residents in Abbottabad, a military garrison town about 160 kilometres from Peshawar. US intelligence agencies hoped these samples would confirm the presence of Osama Bin Laden in a mysterious compound there. According to reports from National Geographic and the BBC, in April 2011, Dr Afridi knocked on the gates of the fortress-like house where Bin Laden was hiding. The plan was to gather biological evidence without arousing suspicion. While it remains unclear whether he ever secured DNA samples from Bin Laden's relatives, the information he helped gather confirmed suspicions about the terror chief's location. On May 2, 2011, US Navy SEALs stormed the Abbottabad compound and killed Osama Bin Laden. The raid stunned the world, and humiliated Pakistan. That Bin Laden had been living for years near a prestigious military academy without detection triggered global questions about Pakistan's role or negligence. Dr Afridi's life had been tumultuous even before his involvement in the Bin Laden operation. In 2008, he was abducted by Mangal Bagh, a terrorist who led Lashkar-e-Islam, a Pakistani terror group. His family was forced to pay a ransom of 1 million Pakistani rupees for his release. Afterward, Dr Afridi briefly moved to the US but returned to Pakistan in 2009, reportedly dissatisfied with American life. Twenty days after Bin Laden's death, on May 23, 2011, Pakistani authorities arrested Dr Afridi. Initially charged with treason – a charge not formally pursued – he was instead convicted in 2012 by a tribal court for allegedly financing Lashkar-e-Islam. Ironically, the 'financing" was the ransom money his family paid for his own freedom years earlier. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison under archaic colonial laws, later reduced to 23 years on appeal. Dr Afridi, now held in the high-security Sahiwal Central Jail in Punjab province, has remained largely invisible since. A rare interview he gave to Fox News from prison in 2012 detailed how he was beaten and tortured by Pakistani intelligence operatives. His appeal remains pending in court, and his legal fate is tangled in bureaucratic inertia and political unease. Did He Know the Target Was Osama Bin Laden? A lingering mystery remains: Did Dr Afridi know he was helping hunt the world's most wanted terrorist? Some US officials suggest he had no idea. A National Geographic report claims that while he cooperated with the CIA, he likely did not know that the target was Osama Bin Laden. To Pakistan, however, the nuances hardly matter. His collaboration with a foreign intelligence agency was, in the words of former ISI chief Asad Durrani, 'one of the most unforgivable crimes". 'There was so much public outrage," Durrani said in a 2021 interview, 'his arrest possibly saved him from being lynched." Since his arrest, Dr Afridi's family has vanished from public view. His wife, once a principal at a government school, and their three children have reportedly been living underground due to continuous threats from terrorist groups and hardline sympathisers. Their location remains undisclosed for safety reasons. There were discussions over a possible prisoner swap – Dr Afridi in exchange for Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist convicted in the US on terrorism charges. But the talks stalled, and no deal was ever reached. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! tags : 9/11 attack Osama bin Laden pakistan Location : Islamabad, Pakistan First Published: June 09, 2025, 13:39 IST News world Free The Doctor Who Helped Track Down Osama Bin Laden, US Congressman Tells Bilawal Bhutto
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
Private hospital in Coimbatore directed to pay 6.35 lakh to woman for medical negligence
Coimbatore: The Coimbatore District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed a private hospital to pay ₹5 lakh as compensation and ₹1.35 lakh towards medical expenses to a woman who contracted Hepatitis B following a blood transfusion during her admission for delivery. According to official sources, Malathi of Coimbatore visited a hospital on Puliakulam Road for regular check-ups and treatment during her pregnancy to ensure the health of her baby. During a visit on October 3, 2022, she was advised to undergo a blood test. The test report showed the presence of HBsAg (Hepatitis B surface antigen) in her blood was non-reactive. She gave birth to her child on May 2, 2023. During the postnatal period, she experienced a blood loss of 1,000 ml. As a result, the attending doctor arranged for a transfusion of one unit of packed red cells from the hospital's own blood bank. She was discharged later that day. After discharge, Malathi began experiencing joint pain and subsequently consulted another hospital. As per the doctor's advice, she underwent a blood test on August 1, 2023. To her shock, the report showed that HBsAg was positive, confirming that she contracted Hepatitis B. Between April 30 and August 1, 2023, she was not admitted to, nor did she take any medication from, any other hospital apart from the one on Puliakulam Road. She also stated that she never suffered from jaundice or any liver-related disease prior to the current diagnosis. Malathi and her family were reportedly traumatised by her illness, which affected her liver. Following this, she filed a complaint with the Coimbatore District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. In its ruling, commission president R Thangavel and members P Marimuthu and G Suguna directed the private hospital to pay ₹1.35 lakh towards medical expenses and ₹5 lakh as compensation for the mental agony and emotional trauma caused by the hospital's negligence and deficiency in service. Additionally, the hospital was ordered to pay ₹5,000 towards the cost of the proceedings.
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Indian Express
Measles spike in US shows how vaccine hesitancy threatens decades of public-health progress
Vaccines are critical tools for the containment and elimination of infectious diseases. They work not merely by protecting individuals, but by reducing community transmission. There have been several global pushes to improve vaccine uptake over the years, but one major coordinated effort occurred in 2021 in response to the Covid pandemic, which saw the most rapid vaccine introduction in history. Globally, the years with the most vaccine introductions have typically coincided with public health initiatives, funding boosts, or as a response to pandemics. The 1980s and 1990s saw WHO's Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) with DTP (diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis), polio, measles, BCG (tuberculosis) vaccines and Hepatitis B and Hib vaccines introduced in the late 1990s. The 2000s saw accelerated introductions of Hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), and yellow fever vaccines in low-income countries, marking a shift in global access to routine vaccines. The introduction of new and underused vaccines like pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), rotavirus vaccine, HPV and Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccine marked the next decade. The United States is currently experiencing a significant resurgence of measles, with 1,046 confirmed cases as of May 27. This marks a sharp increase from previous years, with the majority of cases occurring among unvaccinated individuals in regions with declining immunisation rates. Measles was officially eliminated from the US in 2000. This implies that new cases occur only when someone contracts measles abroad and returns to the country. A new study from Johns Hopkins points out that the significant drop in childhood vaccination rates is concerning because herd immunity requires at least 95 per cent vaccination coverage. The MMR vaccine is probably one of the most effective vaccines. A single dose gives 93 per cent protection from infection, and two doses up to 98 per cent. Measles, which can be deadly for unvaccinated children, is highly contagious. Factors like post-pandemic vaccine hesitancy, non-evidence-based fears of the association between the MMR vaccine and autism, and the complacency of populations who may not remember the long-term sequelae of measles infection are behind the dwindling measles vaccination rates in the US. Measles is often regarded as the 'canary in the coalmine' — if cases spread, it is a warning that other disease outbreaks might spring up where there are gaps in vaccination coverage. Its resurgence in the US is a global warning that even advanced health systems are vulnerable without consistent immunisation. Globally, only 83 per cent of children received the first dose of the measles vaccine in 2023; 74 per cent received the second dose. These figures fall short of the 95 per cent coverage needed to prevent outbreaks. India has made significant strides in its immunisation efforts, particularly under the UIP. India achieved a national immunisation coverage of 93.5 per cent in 2023–24, indicating that the majority of children received all recommended vaccines by the age of two. Since its inception, Mission Indradhanush, focused on areas with low immunisation rates, has completed 12 phases, vaccinating 5.46 crore children and 1.32 crore pregnant women across 554 districts. However, the measles upsurge in the US shows one cannot ignore increasing vaccine hesitancy, particularly since it threatens to throw away the gains made in the containment of infectious diseases. In resource-limited settings, this can lead to healthcare systems being overwhelmed and a general delay in uptake of new vaccines. Misinformation has contributed significantly to the declining uptake for vaccines. The flu vaccination rates among NHS staff in the UK, for instance, dropped to their lowest in nearly 15 years in 2024-25. So far, India has remained immune to vaccine hesitancy. Previous experience with successful vaccination campaigns and government endorsements have played an important role in creating a positive perception of vaccines. However, we must remain alert and actively consider putting in place a multi-pronged, culturally nuanced plan to address vaccine hesitancy. The writer is senior scientist, ICMR
