In medical emergencies, delay can never be condoned leniently like we do in courts: Madras High Court orders Rs 5 lakh compensation

All Primary Health Centres are expected to have ambulances, reiterated the Madras High Court recently, while awarding Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the death of a woman who suffered postpartum haemorrhage and was belatedly shifted to a hospital for a blood transfusion (T Rajagopal v. State of Tamil Nadu and ors)..In this regard, Justice Anand Venkatesh referred to the Supreme Court's ruling in PB Khet Mazdoor Samity v. State of West Bengal as well as the High Court's subsequent ruling in Thangapandi v. Director of Primary Health Services..The Court further empahaised that this is crucial to guard against unavoidable delays in medical emergencies.."When it comes to saving life, every second counts and delay by even few minutes can cause the death of a person. Therefore, when it comes to medical emergency, delay can never be condoned like how leniently we condone in Courts. Every Primary Health Centre is supposed to have an ambulance readily available to shift patients in case of emergency," the Court said..The Court made the observations while dealing with a petition filed by T Rajagopal, whose wife had died in June 2012 hours after giving birth to their daughter in a Kanniyakumari Primary Health Centre..The Court was informed that the deceased woman had suffered excessive bleeding after giving birth, for which the doctor administered with necessary drugs between 4.45 am and 5.15 am. On finding that she needed a blood transfusion, the doctor recommended that she be shifted to a medical college in Asaripallam. .However, there was no ambulance readily available at the Primary Health Centre, which the Court observed eventually proved fatal for the woman. Whereas a 108 ambulance was called at around 5.15 am, the ambulance arrived only at 5.45 am. By the time the ambulance ferried the woman to the medical college, at around 6.30 am, she had died. The cause of death was attributed to 'postpartum haemorrhage'..Justice Venkatesh agreed that there was no medical negligence on the side of the doctor at the Primary Health Centre, also noting that about 4-6% of women can encounter postpartum haemorrhage during child delivery. It is a common cause for maternal deaths after deliver in India, he observed. .However, the Court took a serious view of there having been no ambulance at the Primary Health Centre owing to which precious time was lost before the woman could reach the hospital. ."Since the petitioner's wife was suffering from heavy bleeding, this delay had ultimately proved to be fatal resulting in her death. In medical parlance, it is referred to as golden hour. R Adams Cowley who came up with this term called this time as the time between life and death," the Court pointed out.The Court, therefore, ordered the payment of Rs 5 lakh as compensation, to be paid out of a corpus fund specially set up by the State government in 2018 for payment of compensation in such cases without unnecessarily burdening any doctor or government Institution..Advocate T Lajapathi Roy appeared for the petitioner. Government Advocate Lingadurai and advocate MP Senthil appeared for the respondents. .[Read Judgment]

In medical emergencies, delay can never be condoned leniently like we do in courts: Madras High Court orders Rs 5 lakh compensation

Meera Emmanuel

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