A recent ruling by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Kannur has drawn attention to clinical decision-making and informed consent in varicose vein treatment. The Commission held the surgeon and the hospital management liable for gross medical negligence following complications after laser therapy, awarding compensation and medical expenses to the patient. The patient, a barber by profession, developed symptomatic varicose veins in his right leg in 2023. As his condition worsened, he consulted a surgeon at a hospital in Kozhikode.
After clinical evaluation and a venous scan, he was advised to undergo laser treatment. The doctor also noted narrowing of a vein behind the knee and explained that part of the condition would require open surgery. Preoperative tests were reported as satisfactory, and the patient underwent endovenous laser ablation along with open surgery on…
