Newborn loses 5 fingers in operation sans parents' consent

CHENNAI: A boy born at 24 weeks in a Perambur hospital lost all five fingers on his right hand to gangrene. The premature delivery was triggered by a cervical pessary procedure performed without informed consent.

This procedure set off a chain of events that ended in the baby developing gangrene. According to district consumer disputes redressal commission, Chennai (North), the premature insertion done without adequate testing or emergency justification led to complications including abdominal pain, bleeding, and ultimately, preterm delivery at just 24 weeks.

The baby, born with low birth weight and no spontaneous breathing, suffered from poor blood circulation. During post-delivery care and transfer to NICU, swelling and blackened fingertips developed early signs of gangrene.

The commission held that the hospital and gynaecologist failed to monitor and manage the baby's fragile postnatal condition, and could not explain how the circulatory failure that caused the gangrene occurred. The cervical pessary procedure was deemed the starting point of a sequence that resulted in the injury.

The child's mother was undergoing fertility treatment and was 22 weeks pregnant when the device was inserted, despite a medical scan showing only a 9% risk of spontaneous preterm birth. A pessary is inserted into the vagina to support the cervix and to delay premature labour in high-risk pregnancies.

However, the anomaly scan done on July 4, 2023, merely advised progesterone or cerclage "after discussion with the obstetrician". Instead, the gynaecologist at Srinivas Priya Hospital inserted the pessary on the same day without waiting, without mandatory antenatal tests, and without documented prior consent.

The commission ruled that the hospital and the gynaecologist failed to justify the emergency nature of the procedure or explain why informed consent was bypassed. The commission held them liable for negligence and directed them to pay 23.65 lakh spent on treatment, 10 lakh for pain and suffering, and 10,000 as litigation cost.