In a significant move, a US court slapped a penalty of $5 million (about Rs 20 crore) on a local hospital for medical negligence that left an Indo-Canadian man incapacitated for life.

When Shawn Kahlon went to his general practitioner almost a decade back reporting back pain, he was referred to a specialist at UBC Hospital where a CT scan was done.

But the CT scan was misfiled and never followed up on.

The court ruled the scan should have triggered an investigation that would have led to a diagnosis of spinal TB meningitis.

The ruling said that the treatment would then have been ordered, and Kahlon would likely have made a full recovery.

The CT scan was eventually recovered in 2000 but by then, his condition had gotten worse. The court, thus, observed that Kahlon, now 42, is incapacitated, unemployable and in need of round-the-clock care.

The B. C. Supreme Court cleared Kahlon's family doctor and the specialists who saw him and found Kahlon 30 per cent liable for overlooking a request for a follow-up exam.

But the court found UBC Hospital 70 per cent accountable for misfiling his original CT scan and failing to inform his doctors that no follow-up test was done. The $5 million estimate is based on a life expectancy for Kahlon of age 60.

The court said: "Had the films been reported on at the time of the CT scan or within the several months following, it would have led to a chain of inquiry which would have resulted in a diagnosis of spinal TB meningitis. Treatment would have been given and Mr. Kahlon would have recovered without consequence."