Medical professionals can't be held liable for negligence after failed surgery: SC
Supreme Court has highlighted that medical practitioners cannot be held accountable for negligence simply because surgery or treatment failed to produce the expected results.
PTC News Desk: The Supreme Court has highlighted that medical practitioners cannot be held accountable for negligence simply because surgery or treatment failed to produce the expected results. The apex court added that doctors' liability must be proven by clear evidence of a deviation from standard medical practices.
In a decision that emphasised medical professionals' protection from charges of negligence, the court stated that complications, especially unanticipated ones, do not always mean that a doctor failed to fulfil their duty with due diligence and skill.
Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Pankaj Mithal, ruled, “Simply for the reason that the patient has not responded favourably to the surgery or the treatment administered by a doctor or that the surgery has failed, the doctor cannot be held liable for medical negligence straightway by applying the doctrine of ‘Res Ipsa Loquitur’ unless it is established by evidence that the doctor failed to exercise the due skill possessed by him in discharging of his duties.”
The principle of "Res Ipsa Loquitur" suggests that negligence is clear and requires no more proof.