Medical Negligence in India – A Critical Study

Medical negligence has nowadays have become one of the serious issue in India. Our experience tells us that medical profession is one of the noblest professions. Patients usually see the doctors as God as it is them who are going to treat their illness, health issues and in the end they will be cured and healed by them and we at least expect them to be careful while discharging their duties toward their patients. Medical negligence is also termed as medical malpractice that is an improper, unskilled, improper or negligent treatment of the patients by their physician, dentist, nurse or other health care professionals. In 1995, the SC decision in the case Indian Medical Association v. V.P. Shanta& Ors1 brought the medical services within the ambit of “service” defined in the consumer protection act 1986. This defined relationship between patients and medical professionals by giving contractual patients the power to sue doctors if they sustained injuries in the course of treatment in ‘procedure free’ consumer protection courts for compensation. There is an urgent need to check increasing trend in number of medical negligence cases and deteriorating quality of healthcare in India. Study of decided cases of medical negligence can provide an insight into the reasons for medical negligence cases, factors mainly responsible for medical negligence and impact of doctor-patient relationship, etc. The present paper aims to analyze the concept of negligence in medical profession in the light of interpretation of law by the Supreme Court of India