Delhi consumer commission holds lab liable for faulty test report that led to hospitalisation
New Delhi: A faulty lab test report that triggers panic and emergency hospitalisation amounts to a deficiency in service, Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DSCDRC) has said, asking a private pathology laboratory to compensate the affected customer.
In a recent ruling, the state commission upheld the findings of a district consumer forum against Dr Lal Pathlabs and observed that its "grossly erroneous results constitute a failure to perform basic testing accurately, causing undue distress and unnecessary hospitalisation."
Dismissing the appeal filed by the lab, the bench of Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal (president) and Pinki (member judicial) noted that if "the tests carried out by a laboratory are defective and erroneous, then the diagnosis by the doctor will not be correct, and the patient will not get the proper treatment.
The medicines prescribed based on a wrong test report and diagnosis may lead to fatal results for the patient.
When a patient's urea levels are reported at more than ten times the normal range, triggering emergency hospitalisation and profound distress, the laboratory cannot retreat behind semantic arguments about its limited role in the diagnostic chain."
According to the complainant, on receiving the test report showing abnormally high creatinine levels at 8.39 mg/dl and urea at 189 mg/dl, while the reference range of creatinine is 0.6-1.3 mg/dl and urea at 6-21 mg/dl, the treating doctor directed immediate hospitalisation and further tests while preparing for a procedure.
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However, further tests within 24-48 hours revealed normal readings. The same tests were conducted at two other private labs, which also showed the patient's parameters to be within the normal range.
"It is to be noted that the medical expenses incurred by the respondent were directly attributable to the appellant's erroneous report, which falsely indicated life-threatening conditions and necessitated emergency hospitalisation ," the commission said.
Rejecting the challenge to the award of Rs 3.5 lakh as compensation payable by the laboratory, the state commission pointed out that being "misdiagnosed with life-threatening conditions and undergoing unnecessary hospitalisation constitutes severe psychological trauma. The mental agony and physical suffering cannot be understated. Also, the prolonged litigation justifies litigation costs as a component of compensation.
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Dr Lal Pathlabs said that there was no deficiency in service and that the tests were conducted under strict quality control protocols.
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