CHENNAI: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chennai (North), has held Saveetha Dental College & Hospital and Saveetha Medical College & Hospital guilty of medical negligence and deficiency in service, directing them to pay Rs 7 lakh in compensation to a city resident.
The bench comprising president D Gopinath and members Kavitha Kannan and TR Sivakumar found that the complainant, Sukanya, had established a clear case of negligence in treatment administered to her husband, Arunkumar, during a dental procedure in August 2025.
According to the order, a sharp dental instrument slipped into the patient’s digestive tract during a root canal procedure, allegedly due to failure in adhering to standard safety protocols, including the non-use of a rubber dam and absence of informed consent. “The material on record substantiates that a foreign object entered the patient’s body during the procedure,” the Commission observed. “The hospitals failed to rebut the allegations and are set ex parte.”
The bench further held that subsequent medical intervention, including an endoscopic procedure at the second hospital, was conducted without valid consent or adequate preparation. “The complainant’s version remains unchallenged and is accepted,” the order stated.
Invoking the legal principle of res ipsa loquitur (the thing speaks for itself), the Commission ruled that the very nature of the incident indicated negligence. It observed that the burden had shifted to the hospitals to prove due care, which they failed to discharge.
The Commission also took note of continued medical complications, mental trauma, and financial losses suffered by the patient, as well as the hospitals’ failure to furnish complete medical records despite repeated requests.
Allowing the complaint, the panel directed the two institutions to jointly pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation for medical negligence and Rs 2 lakh as punitive damages. An additional Rs 10,000 was awarded towards litigation costs. The hospitals have also been directed to provide complete medical records, including consent forms and procedural details, within 45 days.
The order stipulates that failure to comply within 60 days will attract 9% annual interest on the awarded amount from the date of filing of the complaint. The Commission added that the acts of the hospitals amounted to gross deficiency in medical service under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.