NCDRC rejects plea for compensation in medical negligence case

The apex consumer commission has rejected a man's plea for Rs six crore compensation for the death of wife in a case of alleged medical negligence in which the Medical Council of India (MCI) had taken punitive action against two doctors.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) said it was "not bound to accept the findings of MCI" as the medical body, which recommended removal of the names of the two doctors from medical registers of state and national bodies for a month, had not commented anything on the negligence in the case.
NCDRC, however, said that the observation touching merits of this case was tentative only for purpose of this complaint and shall not be construed as an expression of final opinion in the matter.

The bench made the observation while deciding a complaint filed against seven doctors, two private hospitals and two blood banks alleging medical negligence on their part which resulted into the death of a woman patient in December 2010.
The complaint was filed by Haryana resident Ramesh Kumar seeking Rs six crore compensation from the concerned doctors, hospitals and blood banks alleging that his wife had died due to their negligence in providing medical services.
Kumar also said that MCI had recommended removal of names of two of the seven doctors from Indian Medical Register or from the concerned State Medical Register for one month.

The commission, presided by Justice J M Malik, noted that though ethics committee of MCI recommended for removal of the two doctors from the registers, it (MCI) did not comment anything about the negligence in the treatment.
"In our opinion, MCI has not commented anything about the negligence in the treatment of the wife of complainant. The consumer courts are not bound to accept the findings of MCI, in totality," NCDRC bench, also comprising its member Dr S M Kantikar, said.
The bench also noted from the complainant's submission that earlier Haryana Medical Council and Delhi Medical Council had dismissed Kumar's complaint against the two doctors.