Medical negligence: Doctor to pay Rs1m in blood money

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday directed a doctor to pay Rs1 million as blood money to the family of a patient who was found to have died due to medical negligence during an operation. Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi was hearing an application moved by Ehsanullah, a relative of the deceased patient, Sher Ali, who was a resident of Jalalpur Bhattian. The accused doctor had also filed a bail application before the court. At the onset of the hearing, Ehsanullah’s counsel told the court that Sher Ali had died because of an anaesthesia overdose administered by Dr Haroon. He said that a medical board of the Punjab Healthcare Commission had found Dr Haroon guilty of negligence, while the police had also registered a case against the doctor and found the allegations against him to be substantive. He asked the court to dismiss the doctor’s bail application.  The counsel for Dr Haroon rejected the allegations, saying that Sher Ali had died of natural causes. He asked the court to grant the petitioner bail. The court disposed of the petitions and directed the doctor to pay the family of the deceased Rs1 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2013.