All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh landed was recently slapped a fine of Rs 60,000 for a false HIV positive diagnosis. While the diagnosis was done in 2014, the fine was imposed after Naseem Ali, a patient, approached the Haridwar consumer court. One of the reasons cited for the fine was "giving an incorrect HIV report to a fit person," reports The Times of India.
In 2014, Ali had visited a private hospital in Roorkee after he discovered that his blood was not clotting. He then went to AIIMS Rishikesh only to be given the diagnosis that he was HIV positive.
In July 2014, Ali underwent more tests at Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital and the reports came back stating that he was HIV negative.
Angered, Ali filed a complaint at the district consumer forum in Haridwar. AIIMS Rishikesh will now have to pay Ra 50,000 and an extra Rs 10,000 for "wasting the complainant's time and energy" within a month or the institution will have to pay six per cent interest to the complainant annually. The court also said that the tests caused severe mental trauma for the man as well as social problems due to the stigma surrounding HIV.
The directive came out on April 22 and read, "Ensure payment of Rs 50,000 and Rs 10,000 within one month for incorrect treatment. And in case the amount is not paid within a month, then you will be liable to pay this amount at 6% annual interest."
AIIMS Rishikesh is planning on filing an appeal at a higher court. "We will appeal against the judgment in the state consumer forum. It was a documentation error and probably the very next day, it became clear to the patient that his report was negative. And nowhere in the discharge papers was it mentioned that the patient was HIV positive," Dr Manoj Kumar, the spokesperson of the institute, was quoted as saying by TOI.
