Top consumer complaints in 2024 - Voxya Consumer Forum Online

Doctor Complaints

Most people are not aware about their rights against medical negligence by Doctors. They have no way to take any action against the doctor if something goes wrong due to ill-treatment, wrong diagnosis or negligence.

However due to recent pandemic, it is observed that ample amounts of medical complaints are being filed by the consumers regarding the medical services that they have taken, just because of medical negligence by doctors or hospitals.

If you are not satisfied with the treatment or services of a doctor then you can take legal action and can get justice.

Types of Doctor Complaints

The most common Doctor complaints made by patients include poor nursing staff, wrong medicine given, medical negligence, too many tests etc.

Medical Negligence

If a doctor provides sub-standard treatment in respect to the accepted medical standard, then it would be assumed that the doctor has failed to perform his or her duty and it can be declared as negligence. Sometimes medical negligence by the doctor causes injury to the patient and the condition of the patient becomes worse or unexpected complications arise which requires additional health treatment in order to cure the patient.

Improper Diagnosis

Improper diagnosis is one of the most common Doctor complaints as reported by patients in India. After diagnosis, if a doctor fails to recognize the urgency of one or more possible medical problems and cause delay in the diagnosis & treatment then it can be regarded as improper diagnosis. In such cases, the consumer has the right to file a complaint against the Doctor under the Consumer Protection Act.

Wrong Treatment

Wrong treatment is another frequent complaint, similar to medical negligence by doctor. When a doctor fails to understand the problem and starts wrong medication, it could lead to other complexities in the patient. In all such cases, the doctor would be liable for any further damages caused as a result of wrong treatment.

Unjustified Bills

Sometimes you get medical bills from a doctor which show services that were not even provided to your patient or the service is included in the bill but was not informed and was not supposed to be given by the doctor.

It is very difficult for the patients to find out this malpractice as the bills are in the technical language that most of the people are unaware of. Hence you end up paying excess amount.

For any of the issues mentioned above, you can register a complaint against the doctor.

How to resolve Doctor complaints?

To protect the rights of the patients, all the patients who are making payments for any health services were recognized under the definition of “Consumer” in the Consumer Protection Act.

1. File a complaint with Police & State Medical Council:

If you have a complaint against any particular doctor then you should contact the State Medical Board. If the council finds out that the patient's condition is serious then the doctor’s license can be suspended for a particular period.

If the main aim of the patient is to seek compensation, then a patient should file a consumer complaint in the Consumer Forum.
Even Consumers can register a complaint in the nearest police station.

2. Send Legal Notice:
A patient can send legal notice to Doctors in case he is unable to resolve his complaint via Medical Council. Check below to know how to send a legal notice to a doctor?

Step 1: Firstly, get a legal notice drafted by a lawyer.
Step 2: Check it properly and make sure it is signed by a lawyer.
Step 3: Keep a copy of it for future purposes.
Step 4: Send the legal notice to the Doctor by registered post.
Step 5: Keep the slip or delivery report for evidence.

3. File consumer forum case:
Consumer forum deals with consumer complaints and you should approach the consumer forum if you feel that your rights as a consumer have been violated. The consumer courts help the patients to get the compensation for the damage caused to them. Please note that consumer courts can not punish the doctor or medical practitioner who is guilty, it can only provide the compensation.

If a doctor or a hospital is not responding to your complaints even after sending legal notice by a lawyer then you should file a case against them in a consumer court.

Here is how you can file a case in the consumer court?

Step 1: Intimate the aggrieved party via legal notice.
Step 2: Draft the consumer complaint
Step 3: Attach all the relevant bills, test reports and proofs to support your complaint.
Step 4: Select the appropriate consumer court for filing the complaint.
Step 5: Pay the prescribed court fee that is required to be paid along with the complaint.
Step 6: Submit the case along with the affidavit & fees in the court.

If you feel uncomfortable doing all this yourself, then you should use the services provided by Voxya to take legal action against the doctor. We can send Legal Notice and prepare a Case for filing in consumer court.