First case against doctor on Consumer Protection Act in Morang

By Shashidhar Parajuli, Biratnagar, May 21: It has been found that for the first time, a case has been registered against a doctor under the Consumer Protection Act in Morang after a patient died due to wrong treatment.

A case registered by the family against the doctor in the Morang District Court on April 2 is pending after the death of Bimala Thapa Pokharal, a patient from Inaruwa, Sunsari, who had a chronic lung disease, due to the doctor prescribing the wrong medicine during her treatment.

The doctor had prescribed morphine, a drug that should not be given to lung patients, to relieve back pain. The patient's family has alleged that the patient died due to an overdose of the drug. Senior advocate Man Bahadur Rumdali Rai said that this case is the first of its kind registered in the district.

Maniram Pokharel, under Secretary of the Morang District Court, informed the Senior Advocate Rai that the first case had been registered against the doctor.

The case was registered through the Supreme Court senior advocate and consumer rights activist Jyoti Baniya, advocate Subin Pandey, and senior advocate Rai. This has paved the way for others to register such cases in the coming days.

The victim's family said that they felt uncooperative from some court employees in the beginning stages of the case registration.

Sushantaraman Pokharel, the son of the deceased, informed that an attempt was made to withdraw the case by saying that the court fee of Rs. 1.5 million rupees was not required under the Consumer Act, and it could not be registered in this court; it had to be filed as a complaint.

Moreover, the victim's family members said that they feel that the process of registering the case in court is being affected.

However, after the exercise of higher-level officials and the tireless efforts of lawyers, cases were registered without court fees, and a new practice has begun.

Senior advocate Rai informed that there were some difficulties while registering the case against the doctor in court.