Medical Negligence and Consumer Protection Act, 2019: Judicial Response

  • Farheen Mushtaq and Nazia Fayaz
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  • Farheen Mushtaq

    LL.M. Student at University of Kashmir, India

  • Nazia Fayaz

    Ph.D. Scholar at University of Kashmir, India

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Abstract

The doctor in all realms is considered to be light of God. However, they still are humans and are made up of human elements, which definitely include committing a wrong that may be in the form of an act or omission. This wrong can also be from the end of the support staff. So, in such a scenario, it is imperative to determine who was negligent, and under what circumstances. In India, such matters are delved upon the India Judiciary to decide. But the difficulty arises upon the Judges to decide the matter as they are not medical professionals. They have to put reliance upon the expert’s opinion and then apply the basic principles of law of the land. A study shows that there is a 110% rise in the number of medical negligence cases that are reported every year. The study also brings out the fact that 12% of the cases decided by the consumer protection forum are related to medical negligence out of which 90% are the cases involving hospitals. Between 60 to 66 per cent of the cases filed are because hospitals do not take proper consent from relatives before performing certain procedures or changing hospitals, or due to improper documentation throughout the course of diagnosis and treatment. In this paper the authors have talked about the legal aspects associated with Medical Negligence. The paper talks in depth about the treatment of Judicial Response of Medical Negligence under Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Type

Research Paper

Information

International Journal of Law Management and Humanities, Volume 6, Issue 4, Page 653 - 666

DOI: https://doij.org/10.10000/IJLMH.115435

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