[Medical Negligence] Allahabad HC Grants 25 Lac Compensation To Kin Of Young Lawyer Who Died Of Dengue; Issues General Directions [Read Judgment]

Treating the letter written by Petitioner-Advocate B.P. Mishra as a PIL, the division bench of Justices Pradeep Kumar Singh Baghel and Piyush Agrawal said,

"In view of gross medical negligence on the part of the doctors of S.R.N. Medical College and in peculiar facts and circumstances of the case that a practising Advocate of this Court has lost his only young son, who was also an advocate, we assess the compensation of Rs. 25,00000/- (Twenty Five Lakhs) as mentioned above, which shall be paid to the petitioner within six weeks from today. The above payment shall be made through the District Magistrate."

The Petitioner's deceased son Piyush Mishra, who was also a practicing Advocate, was admitted to the SRN Medical College in 2016 where he was wrongly diagnosed with viral fever and was prescribed 'broad spectrum antibiotics' in dengue fever. It was submitted that the deceased was instead suffering from Dengue and the hospital should not have prescribed him antibiotics.

Concurring with the submissions, the court said,

"In the present case the doctors of S.R.N. Medical College has made wrong diagnosis and they administered 'broad spectrum antibiotic' to the patient which is not prescribed in dengue fever as discussed above in the direction of State Government, which is on record, in which it is clearly mentioned that antibiotic should not be given to dengue patient."

On a broader issue of rising number of reported dengue cases in Allahabad, the court concluded that no effective measure had been taken by the State functionaries to combat its spread. No heed was paid to the mandate contained in the Uttar Pradesh Prevention and Control of Malaria, Dengue, Kala-azar and any Vector Borne Disease Regulations, 2016, which was enacted to curb the menace of dengue.

Stating that "vector borne diseases are not contagious diseases but their outbreak shows that sufficient preventive measures have not been taken by the concerned authorities," the court directed:

• All DMs of the State shall ensure that preventive measures mentioned in the 2016 Regulations and the 'Dengue and Chikangunia Prevention Plans -2016-17' are complied with strictly.
• Sentinal Surveillance Hospital's Labs, established for test and investigation of dengue and chikangunia patients, should function efficiently under the supervision of Chief Medical Officer and overall supervision of DM
• Blood separation units, established for supply of blood and platelets of dengue patients, should function strictly in terms of directions issued by State Government.

The court also directed the State Government, in view of dearth of dialysis facility in the S.R.N. Medical College, to release sufficient fund to them, as well as other Government Hospitals, to provide sufficient dialysis units.

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