A patient who underwent a Dobutamine Stress Echo (DSE) test at a private super specialty hospital in Dehradun suffered a cardiac arrest during the procedure and later passed away, leading the State Consumer Court to award Rs. 10 lakh compensation for medical negligence. The court concluded that the hospital and the cardiologist who conducted the test had failed to obtain informed consent, amounting to a deficiency in service. The story began when the patient visited a private hospital in Dehradun in 2014 for left-sided facial pain.
After an initial evaluation suggested the need for surgery, the family sought a second opinion from a senior neurosurgeon at another private facility in the same city. The neurosurgeon reviewed the case, advised an MRI, and scheduled surgery pending cardiac clearance. For this purpose, the patient was referred to senior cardiologists for further evaluation.…
