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Introduction:
Negligence is when a person fails to follow the duty that was assigned to him or her. According to the McMinn Law Firm, the four components of negligence are breach of duty, duty of care, factual causation, and damages. Another form of negligence is malpractice. Negligence, which causes any form of physical harm or injury, is known as malpractice. According to Robenalt, components of malpractice are a breach of duty, the presence of a legal duty, and the causal link between the injury caused and the breach of duty.
Negligence:
The word negligence refers to a person's failure to act at a certain level at which another person will act far better under the same scenario. It is derived from the Latin word “negligentia.” Negligence can stem from civil as well as criminal wrongs. Negligence can result in injury, harm, or, in some cases, even the death of another person.
Types of negligence:
Ordinary Negligence: A failure to take care of the level of caution required in a given scenario is called ordinary negligence. This amounts to any individual who, in the same scenario, will do the same thing. The motive of a person in ordinary negligence is not to cause any physical harm to any random person.
Vicarious Negligence: Under this, an organisation or an individual will be prosecuted even if the facts or evidence do not show the person responsible directly. One main example of vicarious negligence is when a pet owner is held accountable for the damage done by his or her pet.
Gross Negligence: When a person does an act that no other sane person will do, then it is called gross negligence. The court held a person guilty of gross negligence if they found that a person's act showed zero disregard for the safety of another person.
Criminal Negligence: If a person harms another person because of his carelessness, which results in a physical injury, then it's a case of criminal negligence. This type of negligence will sometimes result in the death of another person.
Comparative Negligence: When an accused is partially guilty for the harm done to himself, it is said to be comparative negligence. Based on the facts of the case, the majority of the time, courts avoid giving compensation to the plaintiff.
Contributory Negligence: Here, when an accused is guilty of physical harm, damage, or injury to another person, even by 1%, he or she will not be allowed compensation.
Medical Malpractice:
The term ‘Medical Malpractice’ is used mostly in the USA, while India uses the term ‘Medical Negligence’. It is derived from two Latin words, “malus” and “practicare,” which basically mean “bad” and “to practice.” If a doctor, during the treatment of a patient, indulges in activities that harm the patient, then it is called medical malpractice. Legal malpractice is also known as “professional misconduct” in India.
Types of medical malpractice:
Delayed Diagnosis: In this case, it's the patient who needs to prove that the doctor was not at all paying attention to his or her case. Also, patients have to prove that they have gone to the doctor immediately without any delay, and it is the doctor's carelessness in providing proper care. There are many examples of this. In one instance, a patient's complaint was rejected by a doctor, who said it was a mild infection and not necessary to get a specialist opinion. After a few weeks, the patient's health deteriorated. If the doctor had taken precaution, then this would have been avoided.
Birth Injuries: Medical personnel can be held liable if the tools were used inappropriately while delivering a baby. In some cases, we have seen both mother and child lose their lives. Some common malpractices are performing unnecessary C-section delivery, failing to take care of both mother and child throughout labor, failing to perform C-section delivery in an emergency, excessive use of anesthesia by a medical practitioner, etc.
Misdiagnosis: When a medical practitioner is unable to treat a patient due to carelessness while another medical practitioner does well under the same condition, then it is called misdiagnosis. The carelessness of the doctor sometimes leads to the loss of patients' lives.
Defective Medical Devices: The patient sometimes sustains serious injury when a medical device fails. It may even cause organ failure due to the low quality of medical equipment. The doctor can be held accountable if he already knew that the medical equipment he was importing was faulty but still has not objected.
Judgments:
Pravat Kumar Mukherjee vs. Ruby General Hospital and Ors.:
A. In this matter, which happened in Kolkata, a bus was hit by a motorbike driven by a second-year engineering student. One bystander decided to take him to a nearby hospital. For his treatment, the hospital asked the bystander to deposit Rs 15,000, to which he paid only Rs 2000 and gave his motorcycle as collateral damage. Even after knowing that the patient has a Rs 65,000 insurance policy, the hospital staff decided to shift the boy to a Government Hospital. On the way to the government hospital, he succumbed to his injury. The parents of the boy decided to file a lawsuit against the staff and the doctor of the hospital.
B. After hearing the arguments from both sides, the Court observed that the discontinuation of the treatment merely because of the inability to deposit Rs 15,000 is not a sufficient reason for a patient to be left alone. The honorable court also reminded the doctor of the Code of Medical Ethics, which says that it is the duty of the doctor to give notice to the family and to the patient before discontinuing treatment. In the end, the plaintiff was given compensation, and the defendants were found guilty of medical malpractice.
Lakshmi Rajan vs. Malar Hospitals Ltd. and Another
A. The plaintiff's left breast had a tumor, which she wanted removed through surgery. The doctor, instead of removing only the tumor, has also removed her uterus. The plaintiff then filed a case against the doctor for medical negligence.
B. The honorable court held in its judgment that the hospital is liable for deficiency in providing a service. The court also observed that since the woman had only given consent to remove the tumor from the left breast, the doctor had also removed the uterus, which is a matter of medical malpractice.
Jasbir Kaur vs. State of Punjab
A. In this matter, a newly born baby was found near the bathroom's wash basin bleeding in the hospital. The staff of the hospital was of the opinion that a cat had taken the baby near the washroom.
B. The court, after hearing the arguments from both sides, observed that the administration of the hospital had failed to provide reasonable care to the patient and was found guilty of medical negligence. The court also granted compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the victim's family.
V. Kishan Rao vs. Nikhil Super Speciality Hospital
A. In this matter, the wife of the complainant was taken to a hospital after symptoms of fever and body pain. In the hospital, instead of malaria treatment, she received typhoid treatment for 4 days. The woman died in the hospital. This news spread like wildfire, and due to this, an officer from the malaria department filed a lawsuit against the hospital for improper treatment.
B. The court, after hearing the arguments from both sides, found the hospital guilty of medical negligence. The court also granted compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the victim's family.
Conclusion
Every human being living anywhere in the world who has a sane mind and wants to pursue a career that he or she dreams of will complete all the work assigned without any negligence. Even though doctors who are said to be professional health experts sometimes find themselves in a fix when talking about patients' reports. When a patient is harmed during his or her treatment because of the doctor's carelessness, that is called medical negligence. Also, to prevent carelessness in not just medical but in any field, a certain period of training should be mandatory, which will ensure that a certain person has the minimum expertise to prevent negligence. In every negligence matter, it is the appellant’s side that needs to prove the fact that the defendant is the one who, due to his or her carelessness, has resulted in this deadly accident. On the other hand, in every malpractice case, it is the plaintiff's side that needs to prove the fact that professional duty was crushed. Before giving the verdict, the court should always take an expert opinion.
~Authored by Ashlesh Prabhu
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