Comparative Study on Medical Negligence

Medical profession is the one of the noblest profession among all other profession in India. For a patient, the doctor is like God. And, the God is infallible. But that is what the patient thinks. In reality, doctors are human beings. And, to err is human. Doctors may commit a mistake. Doctors may be negligent. The support staff may be careless. Two acts of negligence may give rise to a much bigger problem. It may be due to gross negligence. Anything is possible. In such a scenario, it is critical to determine who was negligent, and under what circumstances. In a country committed to the rule of law, such matters are taken to the court and judges are supposed to decide. However, negligence by doctors is difficult to be determined by judges as they are not trained in medical science. Their decisions are based on experts‟ opinion. Judges apply the basic principles of law in conjunction with the law of the land to make a decision. Reasonableness and prudence are the guiding factors. We would like to go through these principles in the light of some court judgments and try to understand as to what is expected from a doctor as a reasonable person. As these issues are at the core of medical profession and hospitals are directly affected by new interpretation of an existing law regarding medical professionals, it is pertinent to deal with them at the individual level of the doctor, and also at the employer’s level i.e., hospital.