The Rajasthan State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has rejected the allegation of negligence against the doctors and hospital involved in the birth and treatment of a newborn child. In the case that dates back to 2016, where a baby was born prematurely, the hospital had informed the complainant parents about the possibility of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) while the baby was hospitalised and at the time of discharge and had  advised them to consult an Ophthalmologist for ROP screening. The newborn's parents took her to an eye specialist only after discharge from the hospital and  they did not return to the Eye hospital for a further examination by a retina specialist. Later, when the child developed vision impairment, diagnosis of Grade 5 retinopathy was made at several major institutions including AIIMS and Shankar Netralay. The childs parents lodged a complaint to the SCDRC and demanded compensation of seventy lakh rupees alleging negligence against the treating Gynecologist , Pediatrician and the hospital.

After hearing both sides, the SCDRC acknowledged that clear and written advice about possibility of ROP and need for screening by ophthalmogist was given to the relatives not only at the time of discharge from the hospital but also it was mentioned in the IPD record hence there was no negligence on the part of the doctors or the hospital in this case.The case was dismissed by SCDRC.

Adv Anurag Kulshrestha who argued for the respondent hospital and doctors in the case says that it's a landmark judgment by SCDRC where the responsibility of the pediatrician in relation to the retinopathy of prematurity has been decided. As per medical science  it is necessary for child to be tested for ROP, 3 to 4 weeks after birth, for which it is necessary to refer the child to an eye doctor for screening of ROP. In this case, the pediatrician referred the children for screening in the third week (01.02.2016) but the childs father refused. 

At the time of discharge advice for screening was again  given in writing and the child was taken to the eye doctor but the complainant deliberately didnt present the prescription of the eye doctor in the consumer complaint and alleged that Pediatrician never referred the child for the ROP test to eye doctor, which was not accepted by the court.

Dr Ajay Jain,Pediatrician from Sikar,Rajasthan  informed The Pacemakers that Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is an eye disease in some premature babies born before 31 weeks. (A full-term pregnancy is about 38 to 42 weeks.) It is a problem that affects the tissue at the back of the eye called the retina. The retina senses light and sends signals to the brain so you can see. With ROP, unwanted blood vessels grow on the baby’s retina. These blood vessels can cause serious eye and vision problems later.ROP may go away on its own as an infant grows. But as the infant grows, they should be seen by an ophthalmologist regularly. Sometimes urgent treatment is needed to prevent blindness. If not treated in time, the child can have severe permanent vision loss, or even go blind.

 

Dr SM Yadav,the Gynecologist who delivered the baby at Sanjivni Hospital expressed satisfaction on the order.He said that all necessary protocol was followed during the treament of the child.Its unfortunate that the child developed ROP.All the necessary instructions were given to the family during hospitalisation at right time and need for ROP screening was again emphasized and mentioned in discharge summary.Parents took the child to the Ophthalmologist also but they didnt  followed the advice of Ophthalmologist properly. 

Access the original order by SCDRC here-

Order by State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission