Warning to doctors    

    The strictures passed by the Chennai North District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum against two doctors for negligence in a 14-year-old case should act as a warning to the medical profession. The two Chennai doctors have been told to pay compensation of Rs 2 lakh for negligence during traction surgery that left the patient permanently disabled. Witnesses for theprosecution exposed the lack of proper procedures during the treatment. Worse, the doctors performed surgery with an incompetent team of assistants, and drugs were administered without reason that caused further complications. this report comes at a time when people are worried about the kind of tretment they get in hospitals and nursing homes. These have proliferated like weeds, but is the Medical Council of India or the State Government keeping any eye on them?

    Only last week, the Supreme Court decided to review its earlier judgment omn medical negligence by referring another case to a larger bench. In the earlier verdict, the court said a doctor was not criminally liable if a patient died due to an error of judgement committed by him during treatment. For a doctor to be considered criminally liaable, it said there must be gross negligence or recklessness. the judgement caused concern among people, who feared that doctors would get off lightly in medical negligence cases. In the United States, the law is being further tightened with strict procedures laid down for doctors to reduce mistakes. The government there could also look at a similar regulation. The other area of anxiety is medical ethics, particularly over-charging and needless tests patients may be told to undergo. The public assurance by a team of Chennai doctors recently that they would strictly follow medical ethics is an example their colleagues in the city should emulate.