MUMBAI: A care facility for senior citizens has been directed by the South Mumbai District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum to refund Rs 4.78 lakh and pay compensation of almost Rs 1 lakh to a Mulund-based man for not providing adequate medical attention to his 82-year-old father in 2008. The octogenarian died soon after. The Forum has held the old-age home guilty of negligence.
Hemant Thakur's father was suffering from Alzheimer's and needed constant care and supervision. In the complaint filed before the Forum on September 15, 2011, Thakur said he and his wife were unable to provide such care to him because of their professional commitments.
The Thakurs came across Dignity Lifestyle Trust, which offered to provide the best medical care and personal attention at its home, a township of cottages in Neral. The Nightingale scheme, to which they subscribed, promised facilities such as medical attender and '24 hours personal medical care'.
Thakur paid a total of Rs 5.29 lakh, of which Rs 4 lakh was refundable deposit, Rs 96,000 was towards maintenance (for six months) and Rs 33,100 was towards the inverter and hospital registration. Thakur's father was admitted in February 2008.
On June 1, 2008 Thakur was informed that his father was in a diabetic coma and admitted to hospital. Thakur then found out his father's blood sugar levels had spiked a week earlier, but no care had been given then. Thakur alleged that if his father had been given intravenous glucose in time, he would have recovered immediately and would not have suffered further complications. He stated that when he wanted to take his father home on June 6, 2008, the home's officials assured him there wouldn't be any shortcomings in medical care and also claimed an Alzheimer's patient should not be exposed to frequent changes in environment.
But his father's woes continued at the home, and on June 15, 2008, Thakur had to take him to a hospital in Mulund. He died on July 14, 2008. Despite repeated requests, the hospital did not refund Thakur's money.
The home contended that due care was taken of Thakur's father at the township, and within three months of admission, he had improved. They also said Thakur did not pay heed to medical advice and preferred to send his father back to the township despite being aware that it did not have a specialized Intensive Medical Care Unit. The forum, however, found that contrary to the claims in the home's brochure, it had no 100-bed Geriatric Care Hospital to provide lifetime medical aid and care. It also said Thakur was compelled to take his father from the township within 4-5 days of his hospital discharge, and this showed medical treatment was not satisfactory.
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Hemant Thakur's father was suffering from Alzheimer's and needed constant care and supervision. In the complaint filed before the Forum on September 15, 2011, Thakur said he and his wife were unable to provide such care to him because of their professional commitments.
The Thakurs came across Dignity Lifestyle Trust, which offered to provide the best medical care and personal attention at its home, a township of cottages in Neral. The Nightingale scheme, to which they subscribed, promised facilities such as medical attender and '24 hours personal medical care'.
Thakur paid a total of Rs 5.29 lakh, of which Rs 4 lakh was refundable deposit, Rs 96,000 was towards maintenance (for six months) and Rs 33,100 was towards the inverter and hospital registration. Thakur's father was admitted in February 2008.
On June 1, 2008 Thakur was informed that his father was in a diabetic coma and admitted to hospital. Thakur then found out his father's blood sugar levels had spiked a week earlier, but no care had been given then. Thakur alleged that if his father had been given intravenous glucose in time, he would have recovered immediately and would not have suffered further complications. He stated that when he wanted to take his father home on June 6, 2008, the home's officials assured him there wouldn't be any shortcomings in medical care and also claimed an Alzheimer's patient should not be exposed to frequent changes in environment.
But his father's woes continued at the home, and on June 15, 2008, Thakur had to take him to a hospital in Mulund. He died on July 14, 2008. Despite repeated requests, the hospital did not refund Thakur's money.
The home contended that due care was taken of Thakur's father at the township, and within three months of admission, he had improved. They also said Thakur did not pay heed to medical advice and preferred to send his father back to the township despite being aware that it did not have a specialized Intensive Medical Care Unit. The forum, however, found that contrary to the claims in the home's brochure, it had no 100-bed Geriatric Care Hospital to provide lifetime medical aid and care. It also said Thakur was compelled to take his father from the township within 4-5 days of his hospital discharge, and this showed medical treatment was not satisfactory.
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