Thursday 25 October 2012

Emedinews:Insights on MEdicolegal Issues:Medical Negligence


Medical Negligence
Government of India/Medical Council of India should give Statutory Rules or Executive Instructions on medical negligence – Supreme Court of India
  • The Honorable Apex Court said that so long as it is not done we propose to lay down certain guidelines for the future which should govern the prosecution of doctors for offences of which criminal rashness or criminal negligence is an ingredient.
  • A private complaint may not be entertained unless the complainant has produced prima facie evidence before the Court in the form of a credible opinion given by another competent doctor to support the charge of rashness or negligence on the part of the accused doctor.
  • The investigating officer should, before proceeding against the doctor accused of rash or negligent act or omission, obtain an independent and competent medical opinion preferably from a doctor in government service qualified in that branch of medical practice That doctor can normally be expected to give an impartial and unbiased opinion applying Bolam’s test to the facts collected in the investigation.
  • A doctor accused of rashness or negligence, may not be arrested in a routine manner simply because a charge has been leveled against him
  • The doctor should never be arrested in case of medical negligence since the basic rule of mens rea means any criminality to harm the patient always remain absent
  • The exceptional ground and necessity of arrest of doctor is required to be deliberated must be transparent/well justified before the police if unavoidable for furthering the investigation or for collecting the evidence or unless the investigation officer feels satisfied that the doctor proceeded against would not make him available to face the prosecution unless arrested, the arrest may be withheld.

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