NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has said every death in an institutionalised environment of a hospital does not necessarily amount to medical negligence on a hypothetical assumption of lack of due medical care.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, A S Bopanna and J B Pardiwala declined to entertain an appeal by Devarakonda Surya Sesha Mani and Others against a decision by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission that had on March 24, 2021, rejected their plea for compensation from Care Hospital, Institute of Medical Sciences and others.
The Consumer body found no act of medical negligence, saying no substance in evidentiary material produced in support of the complaint.
After hearing the appeal, the bench said, "Unless the appellants are able to establish before this court any specific course of conduct suggesting a lack of due medical attention and care, it would not be
possible for the court to second-guess the medical judgment of the doctors on.the line of medical treatment which was administered to the spouse of the first appellant."
"In the absence of any such material disclosing medical negligence, we find no justification to form a view at variance with the view which was taken by the NCDRC," the bench added.
The complainant sought compensation of Rs seven crore along with Rs three crore for mental agony. She alleged before the NCDRC that her husband was admitted to the hospital's casualty ward with vomitting symptoms. Doctors administered an injection to him after which he fell unconscious. Around midnight, he was shifted to ICU where he died due to casual manner of treatment.
