A person’s identity is shaped by their state of health. The individual has a longer lifespan if there is a physiological state. What happens if a patient’s health deteriorates or they pass away as a result of a doctor’s negligence?
The right to health is an unalienable fundamental right under the notion of the right to life, claims RJS Coaching in Jaipur. Article 21 of the Indian Constitution ensures that everyone has the right to live. Medical negligence has not only resulted in an overall declination in individual’s health but has also been associated with the fatalities of patients who had serious medical conditions.
Medical Negligence: About
When a healthcare worker or medical professional breaches their duty to provide treatment and causes suffering, damage, or death to a patient, it is referred to as medical negligence. Medical negligence regulations are being put in place in India to ensure that patients receive the right care and compensation for any harm caused by medical practitioners.
Therefore, there are three key ingredients of medical negligence, which are as follows:
- The existence of a legal duty
- Breach of the legal duty
- The consequences of such a breach of legal duty
Laws Pertaining to Medical Negligence in India
- Section 304A of IPC: It talks about deaths brought on by negligence. Should a medical practitioner’s carelessness lead to a patient’s demise, they could face a fine, two years in prison, or both.
- Section 337 of IPC: It deals with injuring someone by endangering their lives or their personal security. If a medical professional’s negligence endangers a patient’s life or safety, they could be subject to a fine, up to six months in jail, or both.
- Section 338 of IPC: It deals with extreme suffering brought on by deeds that endanger one’s life or personal security. If a medical professional’s negligence causes a patient to sustain serious injuries, they could be subject to two years in imprisonment, a fine, or both.
- Under the virtue of Consumer Protection Act of 1986, the patients can register complaints against medical providers and demand compensation for medical negligence.
Medical Negligence: Available Remedies
There are different remedies that are focused by the institute of RJS Coaching in Jaipur as follows:
Remedies under Criminal Law
- A person may be sentenced to jail time and/or a fine under different sections of the Indian Penal Code of 1860 if their careless or reckless actions endanger others’ lives, jeopardize their personal safety, or cause someone to die.
- However, the court has noted that the element of “Mens Rea” needs to be proven to exist in a case of carelessness when a criminal prosecution is being considered.
- It must be demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused did or did not do anything that, under the circumstances, no other medical practitioner in his normal senses and caution would have attempted or failed to do in order to determine criminal responsibility.
Remedies under Civil Law
- A person who experiences injustice may bring a case against the hospital and the accused in consumer courts.
- The Honorable Supreme Court noted that medical professionals are protected by the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 and that their services should be regarded as services for the purposes of Section 2(1)(o) of that legislation.
- Similarly, medical services will be covered by Section 2(42) of the new Consumer Protection Act of 2019 regarding services.
- Any person who has been harmed by medical malpractice has the right to sue a hospital or physician for damages. The Consumer Protection Act of 2019 stipulates in Section 69(1) that a complaint for medical negligence has to be filed within two years after the date of the harm.
Medical Negligence: Landmark Decisions
Some of the landmark cases focused by various RJS Coaching in Jaipur are as follows:
- The Supreme Court in the case of Jacob Mathew v State of Punjab the medical negligence lawsuit must employ res ipsa loquitur, which states that if a healthcare provider act carelessly in the circumstances concerning the injury of the patient, the injury would not have happened. This is applicable when the injury had been severe enough to prevent it in the absence of negligence and the circumstances surrounding the injury showed that the medical professional was at fault.
- The Supreme Court in the case of Kusum Sharma v Batra Hospital decidedthat patients have the right to fair compensation for medical malpractice even if they did not incur any physical injury. The court decided that mental and emotional trauma caused by medical negligence could rightly be compensated for by the patient.
Conclusion
The fact that there are many doctors who are careless does not mean that all of them are. It is not only discouraging but also a kind of harassment for certain professionals. Furthermore, physicians are human, not superhumans. Even when a doctor tries his or her hardest to preserve a patient’s life, sometimes the patient dies. The facts are the facts. Such is life. However, nothing can resurrect a life that has long since passed away. No sum of money the court awards in a medical negligence claim will ever be able to entirely replace a life lost.
