Medical Negligence

Incidents of medical negligence seem to be on the rise in recent times. It was only this week that the Assam Human Rights Commission has asked a Guwahati-based government doctor to pay a compensation of Rs five lakh to a person whose wife had died allegedly because of medical negligence for which the particular doctor was held responsible. The government doctor was with the Ambari Urban Health Centre in Guwahati where the complainant’s wife had died while undergoing some medical treatment. Such complaints and allegations have been coming from all over the country, with the families of the victims rushing to courts of law as well as to human rights commissions seeking action as well as adequate compensation.

While there is a perception that it is only in India that patients and their families are in the habit of lodging complaints against doctors, the fact is that it is a global phenomenon. Studies have shown that it is a rising trend in the United Kingdom as well as the USA. But then, while in India the most common complaint is that of medical negligence, the nature of complaints in the UK and other western countries is different. The three most commonly reported types of complaint in the western and developed countries are related to – concerns with investigations and treatment such as failure to diagnose or prescribing inappropriate medications; problems with communication – such as not providing appropriate information or not responding to people’s concerns; and perceived lack of respect for the patient – such as being rude or dishonest. But then, looking deep into these, one would find that these are also some of the probable reasons leading to alleged medical negligence in our country too. The courts of law, including the Supreme Court, have from time to time passed some very significant and landmark judgments on cases of alleged medical negligence. Some people have tried to describe alleged negligence by doctors as ‘medical terrorism’, a term which, however, cannot be accepted in plain and simple manner.

The recent incident of the death of a very senior and elderly doctor in a tea estate in Jorhat district, on the other hand, has revealed that a section of people have begun displaying dangerous intolerance against the medical profession. According to a study by the Indian Medical Association, over 75% of doctors have faced violence at work. Violent attack on doctors and complaints of medical negligence meanwhile should be seen or studied under one umbrella and with one common perspective so that solutions could be found to minimise both – medical negligence by doctors, as well as violence against doctors and other people working in the Healthcare sector.

Also Read: Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) holds doctor guilty of medical negligence