Medical negligence: Wrong injection leaves man paralysed

With the attendant glued to cricket match on tv, the needle prick goes awry.

RAWALPINDI:

Fixated to the one-day match of West Indies versus England playing on TV, the medical attendant at a private clinic did not notice before placing the injection.

Muhammad Ashraf, who had come in with complains of high grade fever on March 17 2011, was in for a debilitating shock. After prescribing him some medicines, the doctor instructed a medical attendant to administer an injection to him. It was only when Ashraf yelped from the prick that the doctor told him to be patient, saying “there is no need to worry, you will be okay soon.”

However, these reassuring words did little to appease Ashraf, who felt a spasm of pain shoot up through his left forearm, making it numb till the wrist up.

Upon seeing no signs of recovery, he went to the doctor again on April 3. The doctor advised some medical tests, through which it was revealed that a nerve was damaged, leaving Ashraf disabled in his arm. According to Ashraf, the doctor refused to treat him.

Ashraf then approached a consumer court, asking that Dr Muhammad Sheikh, who runs a private clinic at Kohati Bazar in Rawalpindi, be directed to compensate for the medical treatment till complete rehabilitation. He also asked the court to award penalty to the doctor for his alleged negligence.

Ashraf is now unable to run his shop at Banni Chowk in Rawalpindi.”I borrowed money to afford my treatment, after keeping my daughter’s jewellery as security at the market,” Ashraf told The Express Tribune. He then approached the consumer court to redress his grievances as the doctor had refused to bear expenditure for his medication.

On this, the lawyer of Dr Sheikh assured that his client was ready to reimburse all expenditures to bear Ashraf’s treatment till recovery. But Dr Sheikh turned back on his words.

Ashraf complained before the court that due to negligence, arbitrary, insolvent and dictatorial conduct on the part of doctor, he had suffered inconvenience, mental torture besides financial loss.

When contacted for his version of the incident, Sheikh refused an appointment. An electronic voice on the intercom said that the doctor was busy. But when asked about Ashraf, he said that the matter was pending before the court and he would not comment on the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2012.