Medical negligence: HC asks govt. to provide free medical assistance, education to child

The Kerala High Court has directed the State government to provide medical assistance and free education to a nine-year-old girl whose right hand had to be amputated due to ‘medical negligence.’

The government would have to bear the expenses until she reached the age of 21 years, the court said, citing that she was a victim of serious medical negligence at the district hospital in Palakkad. The girl, who hails from a financially backward family, was taken to the hospital after sustaining two fractures in her hand.

A Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. further directed the government to ensure strict implementation of the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the treatment of fractures, especially in children, and disposed of the petition.

Infection, bleeding

A plea in this regard was filed by P.D. Joseph, a social worker from Thrissur. He said the girl was taken to the hospital in September 2025. Instead of doing a surgery, a plaster was applied to her hand without proper examination and she was discharged. This led to infection of the fractured hand and bleeding. No medicine was given to stop the bleeding.

She was subsequently admitted to the Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital, where her right hand, which was fully infected, had to be amputated. This would not have happened if she had been kept under observation and treated properly at the district hospital in Palakkad, Mr. Joseph contended.