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A woman based in Bengaluru has been granted ₹5 lakh in compensation by a consumer forum, almost two decades after a 3.2 centimetre surgical needle was left inside her body following surgery at a private hospital in the city. The Karnataka State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has instructed the hospital and two doctors to pay Padmavathi, a resident of Jayanagar, ₹50,000 as legal costs. The commission has also directed New India Assurance Co Ltd, the insurer covering hospital expenses, to provide her with ₹5 lakh for "the professional and medical negligence that occurred." At the time of the hernia operation on September 29, 2004, the then 32-year-old woman also had her appendix removed, according to the commission's recent ruling.
Immediately after the surgery, she experienced severe pain, for which she was given painkillers and assured that it was typical post-surgery discomfort that would subside. She endured acute stomach and back pain for many years and was subsequently admitted to the same hospital twice more, the ruling noted. In 2010, Padmavathi sought treatment at another private hospital where a scan revealed a foreign object in her abdominal and back area, prompting doctors to recommend its removal. She underwent surgery to remove the 3.2 cm surgical needle, after which she filed a complaint with the consumer forum the following year.
The forum acknowledged that the complainant was approximately 32 years old during these surgeries and the removal of the needle. "She unquestionably endured severe pain and inconvenience until the needle was removed," the ruling emphasized.