Court grants relief to doctor, hospital, says Doctors Would Leave Patients Requiring Urgent Care if Made to Face Unnecessary Litigation

Exonerating a Delhi-based pulmonologist and hospital from charges of medical negligence while treating a patient diagnosed with Acute Myocardial infraction, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) observed that if a doctor has to face legal proceedings only for attending a patient in an emergency, then the doctor would feel better advised to leave the patient requiring urgent medical attention.

Although the complainant argued that the patient had died as the doctor was not qualified to treat the patient and had not referred him to any specialist in time, the Commission noted that the patient was taken to the Casualty, where the treating doctor was on duty.