Insist on fees, but prime duty taking care of patients: NCDRC to hospitals

The compensation shall be paid within six weeks of the pronouncement of this order, without fail

A hospital has every right to insist on payment but it also has the prime duty to take care of a patient facing a health emergency, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has said while awarding a compensation of Rs 25 lakh for medical negligence to a woman whose husband died at the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore.

A bench of presiding member S M Kantikar and Dinesh Singh awarded the compensation to the deceased patient's wife Yashumati Devi noting that there was an urgent need for the patient's brain CT scan but it was delayed for more than