INDIA TODAY – 24.06.2016
Doctors and hospitals can't be dragged to court if patient not cured
100 per cent: NCDRC
The only question which was to be
considered was if the doctor had performed his duties to the best of his
abilities and with due care and caution, said the National Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission.
Hospitals and doctors cannot be
dragged to courts and asked to pay compensation merely because a patient was
not cured 100 per cent after treatment or a surgery, the National Consumer
Disputes Redressal Commission has ruled.
WHAT THE RULING SAID
The only question which is to be
considered is if the doctor has performed his duties to the best of his
abilities and with due care and caution, said the forum.
"In the very nature of the
medical profession, skills differ from doctor to doctor and more than one
alternative course of treatment is available, all admissible.
Merely because the doctor chooses
one course of action in preference to the other one available, he would not be
liable, if the course of action chosen by him was acceptable to the medical
profession", a bench headed by Justice JM Malik said.
THE CASE
The Commission made the observation
while upholding a judgment of the Haryana State Consumer Commission which
refused to order compensation to one Rajesh Taneja who was suffering from
Ankylosing Spondylitis (which seriously affects the pelvis).
He had contended that he was not
cured completely after a surgery at Kaiser Hospital in Panchkula as he still
could not walk.
He had sued the hospital and three
doctors there seeking a compensation of Rs 90 lakh.
Alleging "unfair trade
practice," Taneja contended that the doctors had no knowledge or
experience in joint surgeries.
He also alleged that the hospital
had no necessary instruments and was not well equipped to perform such
operations.
NO NEGLIGENCE
However, after perusing all
records, the National Commission came to the rescue of the private hospital
saying, "We are of the considered view that the complainant was suffering
from Ankylosing Spondylitis which is not completely curable and only corrective
surgeries are helpful for mobility of the patient.
Therefore, the alternative mode of
surgery adopted by the doctors (Girdle stone arthroplasty) was not negligence,
whereas, it is only a recognised alternative mode of surgery, when total hip
replacement is not possible."
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