In this article you will learn about Medical Negligence in Tort.
Medical Negligence
Medical negligence refers to the misconduct of medical practitioners or doctors by not providing enough care and taking proper measures or safeguards to the patient which result in the breach of their duties. Due to the lack of proper care or carelessness of the doctors or medical professionals during diagnosis, operations or while injecting anaesthesia results in medical negligence. Some common causes include lack of procedural safeguards, incorrect dosages, surgical errors, operation theatre contamination, blood transfusion contamination, mistreatment, wrong diagnosis, etc., all of which may be avoided by taking a proper standard of care which is required. Negligence is an offence under the law of torts, Indian Penal Code, Indian Contracts Act, Consumer Protection Act 1986 and many more.
The breach of any of these duties gives a right to the patient to bring a suit for negligence. These duties includes :
- The duty or obligation of care in deciding whether to undertake a unique case or not.
- The duty of care in selecting the appropriate therapy or treatment that a patient is to receive in a certain case.
- The duty of care in administering the treatment properly.
Rights of the Patients
- Right to know the information
- Right to check the records and reports related to their illness
- Right to safety and quality care according to standards of required medical care
- Right to choose or select the source for buying medicines or doing tests
- Right to give informed consent
Cases
In the case of Dr. Balram Prasad v. Dr Kunal Shah and Ors., the Supreme Court has awarded the highest amount of compensation i.e., an amount of 5.96 crores with an interest which makes a total amount of 12 crores as compensation as the case was pending for the past fifteen years for the gross medical negligence which led to the death of the petitioner's wife.
If a junior doctor does any negligent act, the senior doctor can be held responsible for the acts done by the former. Whereas if the employee of the hospital does the negligent act while dealing with the patient then the hospital will be held liable for the act. In the case of Mr. M Ramesh Reddy v. State of Andhra Pradesh, negligence by the hospital authorities was identified due to their failure to keep the bathroom clean, which caused an obstetrics patient to fall and ultimately led to her death. The court granted a compensation of one lakh against the hospital.
In the case of Lakshmi Rajan v. Malar Hospital Ltd, the patient, a forty-year-old married woman, discovered a painful lump in her breast and went to Malar Hospital Ltd for examination and treatment. Instead of addressing the lump, her uterus was removed, ending her hope of having a child. The court held the hospital liable and to pay a compensation of two lakh rupees to the complainant.
In the case of Hunter v Hanley, the court stated a doctor can be held liable for his negligent act only if it is proved that she/he is guilty of a failure to take reasonable care. If a doctor with ordinary skills acted by taking reasonable care, he/she would not be held guilty.
This article on Medical Negligence in Tort is contributed by Dipshikha Anand. If you like LawStudyPoint.com do follow us on our Twitter handle.