Medical Negligence


Table of Contents
What is medical negligence?
Some common medical claims
What does not amount to medical negligence?
What to do if you have been a victim of these negligence?



What is medical negligence?

When a medical practitioner is careless while treating a patient or does not take proper medical actions, this carelessness is medical negligence.

The following acts may constitute medical malpractice:
• Failure to diagnose or evaluate
• Misdiagnose of a medical condition or disease
• Failure to provide proper treatment
• No proper reason for delaying the treatment
• The client is not informed with proper consent for the medical procedure.


Some common medical claims

• Birth Injury Claims – The most common claim made under medical negligence. This type of claim is an outcome of infant death, brachial plexus injury, etc. It also covers damages if made to the mother.
• Failure or Late Diagnosis – Any sort of delay from the doctor's side will lead to fatal consequences. Therefore, these unwanted situations must be avoided.
• Untreated fractures – If the doctor could not figure out the damage or rupture at the proper area or could not treat it properly, it would be considered negligence.
• Surgical errors – Removal of a wrong leg, limb, arm, or any other body part is illegal under the law.
• Hospital cleanliness and sanitation – A healthy work area must be clean and tidy. If the hospital is not clean or full of bugs/insects, medical negligence will be considered.
Claims in a Medical Negligence Case

Lawsuits arising from negligent medical acts are often expensive to litigate, as one would need to seek the advice of medical experts whose services are costly. Also, the recovery of damages is limited by statute or law in a medical negligence suit.

Any victim is entitled to the following types of compensations-
• The victim must be compensated with both present and future medical expenses.
• Compensation for lost wages or earnings
• Pain and suffering
• Punitive damages

Thus, there are three components of medical negligence:
Existence of legal duty
Breach of legal duty
Damage caused by such breach
Various situations amount to medical negligence by a medical professional such as incorrect diagnosis, deferred diagnosis, inaccurate surgery, long-term negligent treatment, childbirth and labour malpractice, unnecessary surgery, erroneous administration of anaesthesia, etc.


What does not amount to medical negligence?

Suppose a patient has suffered an injury, the doctor might not be held liable for negligence. In case of doctor error of judgment, he shall not be charged against any such actions. Even doctors are humans and, hence, prone to make mistakes, and therefore, they shall be allowed some relief.
Merely based on the fact that the doctor's decision did not turn out to be favourable, he cannot be held against such an error in judgement. Instead, one must prove that there was a breach of duty on his part.
A doctor performing his task with due care and caution could not be held liable for negligence. However, when a judgement was made due to a negligent act, it was referred to as a breach of duty. Therefore, the doctor must be blamed for such an act.


What to do if you have been a victim of these negligence?

1) Reach Medical Council of India
A person or a party can file their complaint to the concerned State Medical Council without any hesitation. They have the power to suspend or cancel the registration of a doctor. However, it shall be kept in mind that the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 does not allow them to make compensation against the victimized party.

The accused must state all the facts correctly in front of the council of the concerned matter. The committee shall then be given 30 days so that they can provide a reply for the same. If the response is unsatisfactory, the council shall call upon both parties to present evidence supporting their claims.

2) File a case under criminal liability
Any doctor or authority responsible for causing threats to human life shall be punished with a life sentence or fined according to the Indian Penal Code 1860. However, in a matter of negligence, where a criminal case takes place, the element of "men's rea" must be shown to exist.

The victim must file an FIR at the first place to the nearest police station against the culprit. If no action is taken, then the victim can move to file a criminal complaint.

3) Contact Voxya
One can file a complaint here https://voxya.com/file-consumer-complaint. There is no specific phone number or mail ID to contact Voxya. Still, if you want to contact them, submit your details here https://voxya.com/contact-us and wait till they contact you.