Skin treatment blamed for wedding delay

Bride seeks Rs3 million for Rs3,000 treatment.


Rana Yasif April 23, 2011

LAHORE:


A consumer court on Friday issued notices to a doctor and his for April 30 in a petition seeking payment of Rs3.04 million in damages for allegedly burning the complainant’s skin during a laser treatment which also caused a delay in her marriage.


The petitioner, Ayesha Khalid, a resident of Model Town, said that the doctor’s negligence had caused her skin burns requiring her wedding plans to be revised.

She told the court that she had visited a dermatology clinic at MM Alam Road, Gulberg, on March 26, 2011, to get a laser hair removal.

She said she had paid Rs3,000 for a small patch on her neck.

She said instead of treating her himself, the doctor had assigned an assistant.

She said she later learnt that the assistant was not a qualified dermatologist.

She said during the treatment, she complained to the assistant several times about burning and itching but was assured that the feeling was normal and was a part of the process.

She said when the burning continued hours after the treatment was over, she called the clinic but was told she would be aright soon.

A few days later, she said, blisters appeared on the treated area and the skin darkened.

This was followed by accumulation of pus.

She said, by assigning a sensitive job to an inexperienced and unqualified person, the doctor had ruined her life. She said her marriage had had to be postponed until she recovered from the burns.

She asked the court to direct the respondents to pay Rs3.04 million along with markup at 18 per cent from the date of her treatment to the day the payment was made.

She demanded Rs1 million for pain and sufferings; Rs150,000 for mental torture; Rs500,000 as a quantum of compensation;  Rs3,000, the fee received by the respondents; Rs30,000 for counsel’s fee; Rs10,000 for litigation fee; and Rs1,000 for later doctor’s check ups necessitated by the injury.

The court has asked the respondents for their comments by April 30.

The assistant, named in the petition, said she had not treated the petitioner and refused to comment further.

She said the doctor being sued was unavailable for comments as he was out of country.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2011.

COMMENTS (18)

Sarah | 12 years ago | Reply For facial hair its best to use electrolysis as laser can burn skin far too often
aisha | 12 years ago | Reply @Henna: salam henna. this is ayesha, the petitioner in the above case. just to clarify it was not a test patch. it was the entire back of my neck from ear to ear and from my hair line to the base of my neck. the wound was very visible and extremely painful, so i was unable to turn my neck to drive, or even sleep on it. this was not my first time so i knew what to expect, which is why i knew from the first laser flash, that there was something badly wrong. i spoke up but no notice was taken and treatment continued.
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