A FORTY-TREE-year-old man has won a lawsuit against Labasa Hospital after a medical team conducted surgery on him without his consent.
Judge Deepthi Amaratunga ordered the hospital to pay $123,998.91 in damages, including punitive damages, and $6000 for the cost of the legal action.
The judgment was handed down on February 25.
The plaintiff, Mumleshwar Prasad, was represented by lawyer Sushil Chand Sharma.
In his amendment statement of claim, Mr Prasad said the hospital failed to obtain his consent for a laparotomy and appendectomy and failed to explain the purpose of two procedures.
He further accused the hospital of performing the surgery through deception and force.
The 43-year-old had visited the hospital for abdominal pain in 2019 and was admitted for observation.
After two days, he claimed he was taken outside the operating theatre under false pretences, where he was allegedly made unconscious using force.
Surgical procedures were then carried out without his approval.
Following the laparotomy, Mr Prasad suffered from incisional hernia, which caused him pain and limited his mobility for over a year.
After his discharge, he reported severe pain to the hospital during post-surgery reviews, but the cause was not diagnosed.
Later, a private practitioner identified the hernia, which required corrective surgery.
The hospital defended itself by claiming that Mr Prasad had been informed about the surgical procedures and had consented.
However, there was no written consent or documentation to support their claims, and evidence showed that Mr Prasad had not agreed to the surgery.
The court ruled in Mr Prasad’s favour, highlighting the failure of the hospital to obtain proper consent and adequately inform him about the procedure.
