Maharashtra Consumer Commission Dismisses Nigerian Woman’s Medical Negligence Appeal Against MGM Hospital Vashi Over Delay In Filing Complaint

Mumbai, June 11: The Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) has dismissed an appeal filed by Navi Mumbai resident and presently Nigeria-based woman Ekta Sham, upholding a district commission order that rejected her medical negligence complaint against MGM Hospital, Vashi, and two doctors on the ground of limitation.

“The complainant is an educated lady. She has taken the treatment at Lagos, Nigeria as well in Mumbai. She had also consulted the expert doctors in India as well as in Nigeria. Therefore, it can be said that she was aware of her ailment in the year 2015-2018 itself, but she filed the consumer complaint in the year 2023…. she should have filed the consumer complaint within two years from October 2015 or October 2018, when she underwent the surgery,” the order copy reads.

Background of the complaint

The complaint stemmed from treatment received by Sham during her pregnancy in 2015. She alleged that while admitted to MGM Hospital for delivery, she complained of breathlessness and underwent an ultrasound examination. According to her, doctors assured her that the report was normal and failed to inform her about findings suggesting a possible lesion in her left kidney.

Sham later moved to Lagos, Nigeria, where in 2018 she began experiencing health issues and underwent further tests. Doctors there allegedly detected a large mass in her left kidney, following which she returned to Mumbai and underwent laparoscopic radical nephrectomy surgery at Lilavati Hospital on October 29, 2018.

She claimed that it was only in March 2022, while reviewing old medical records, that she discovered the 2015 ultrasound report had mentioned a “left renal exophytic heterogeneous solid cystic lesion” and recommended further evaluation through a contrast-enhanced CT scan. Alleging that this information had not been properly explained to her, she approached the consumer commission seeking compensation for medical negligence.

Commission decision

However, the State Commission held that the complaint was barred by limitation under Section 69 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which requires consumer complaints to be filed within two years from the date on which the cause of action arises.

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The Commission observed that Sham had received the ultrasound report in 2015 and had undergone extensive medical consultations and surgery in 2018. It held that she was aware, or ought to have been aware, of her medical condition by at least 2018 and therefore should have filed the complaint within two years of that period.

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