DOCTOR'S FOREIGN VISITS OR OCCUPIED OPERATION THEATRES CANNOT BE VALID GROUNDS TO HOLD A DOCTOR LIABLE FOR MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE

The Top Court held that a hospital cannot be held accountable if the operation theatres were occupied when the patient was taken for surgery. A doctor cannot be assumed to stay at the bedside of a patient throughout his stay in the hospital. Further, if a patient is in serious condition before admission and after surgery did not survive, the fault cannot be on the doctors as a case of medical negligence. "No doctor can guarantee life to a patient but can only try to treat him/her to the best of his ability."

The SC heard an appeal against an order passed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), where a patient had succumbed to a leg injury in 1998.

The complainant argued that the doctors did not pay attention to the patient. And delayed the angiography and could not remove the legs, which had threatening gangrene. The hospital charged Rs 4 lakh for the treatment, and the NCDRC ordered a compensation of Rs 14 lakh for negligence. 

The complainant further alleged that surgery was performed on April 23, 1998, but there was a delay in amputating the leg because of an "undue foreign visit" of the doctor involved. 

The court responded that the mere fact that the doctor had gone to the foreign cannot lead to a conclusion of negligence as the patient was admitted to a hospital with at least 20 specialists. Further, with respect to the submissions made by the doctor, the court said that a doctor had to upgrade himself with modern development, which may require him to attend conferences held outside the country.

The Apex Court allowed the appeal.