Medical Negligence

Medical Negligence

Medical Negligence Under The Consumer Protection Act
Professional
negligence or medical negligence may be defined as want of reasonable
degree of care or skill or willful negligence on the part of the
medical practitioner in the treatment of a patient with whom a
relationship of professional attendant is established, so as to lead to
bodily injury or to loss of life.

Consumerism is now
firmly established in the medical practice and the notion that blame
may be attributed and compensated has a high priority

DEFINITION

WHO IS A CONSUMER ?, WHAT IS A SERVICE ?, WHAT CONSTITUTES DEFICIENCY ?

A Consumer is any
person who hires or avails of any services for a consideration, and
includes any beneficiary of such service other than the person who
hires or avails of the service, when such services are availed of with
the approval of the first mentioned person.

Service means
service of any description which is made available to the potential
users, but does not include rendering of any service free of charge or
under a contract of personal service.

Deficiency means
any fault, imperfection, shortcoming or inadequacy in the quality,
nature and manner of performance, which is required to be maintained by
or under any law for the time being in force or has been undertaken to
be performed by a person in pursuance of a contract or otherwise in
relation to any service

Medical Negligence Under The Consumer Protection Act

DUTIES OWED BY A MEDICAL PRACTITIONER

In
general, a professional man owes to its client a duty in tort as well
as in contract to exercise reasonable care in giving advice or
performing services. Medical practitioners from all fields of medicine
such as Allopathy, Homeopathy, Naturopathy can be liable under the
Consumer Protection Act. Duties which a doctor owes to his patient are
clear.

A duty of care in deciding whether to undertake the caseA duty of care in deciding what treatment to giveA duty of care in the administration of that treatment.
A breach of any of these duties gives a right of action for negligence to the patient.

The practitioner
must bring to his task a reasonable degree of skill and knowledge and
must exercise a reasonable degree of care. Neither the very highest nor
a very low degree of care and competence judge in the light of the
particular circumstances of each case is what the law requires.