Emedinews:Insights on Medicolegal Isues:What is contributory medical negligence?

The pregnant woman delivered a child with spina bifida; however, she failed to attend at the regularly advised dates for antenatal ultrasounds that would have identified this problem. The patient was found to be 100% at fault."

• In a medical malpractice/maloccurrence case, medical negligence is the foremost ingredient to establish the liability of damage and dereliction in provided medical care. However, it is important to establish the difference between malpractice and contributory negligence when determining liability.
• Contributory negligence means the patient/legal heirs/parties are partially to blame for the maloccurrence or medical untoward incident. For e.g., a patient is admitted to the emergency room for treatment and they fail to inform the doctor about a pre–existing condition e.g. any allergy to a drug. The patient is guilty of contributing to the negative outcome/damage of the treatment.
• If the victim is found to be even one percent at fault, they will be unable to recover compensation for their injuries. However, comparative negligence is used to determine degree of liability of the doctor/medical care provider.
• Contributory negligence will determine who will receive compensation for their losses and how much they may be entitled to receive in compensation for their injuries. Pure comparative negligence means that in case of an aggrieved patient, damages will be calculated and then reduced to reflect his or her contribution to the injury.

In India, the doctors take the defense against malpractice cases when determining how the parties involved are responsible. In US, 4 categories applied in compensation cases in many of its states: Pure Comparative Negligence/Pure Contributory Negligence/Modified Comparative Negligence—50% Bar Rule and Modified Comparative Negligence—51% Bar Rule. Twenty–one states that recognize the 51% bar rule which means that the party who is less than 51% liable can seek compensation; only 11 US states use the 50% bar rule, which means that if the damaged party is less than 50% responsible, they can collect damages.