V. Kishan Rao vs Nikhil Super Speciality Hospital

Synopsis

By

Dr. Navin Kumar

V. Kishan Rao vs Nikhil Super Speciality Hospital

(2010) 5 SCC 513

Indian society is experiencing a growing awareness regarding patient's rights. This trend is clearly discernible from the recent spurt in litigation concerning medical professional or establishment liability, claiming redressal for the suffering caused due to medical negligence. In the instant case, the complainant was Mr. Kishan Rao, an officer in Malaria Department, whose wife was wrongly treated for Typhoid fever instead of Malaria fever by the respondent hospital. It led to death of the patient. The District consumer forum had awarded the compensation of Rs. 2 lakhs to the complainant Mr. Kishan Rao. However the decision of the District consumer forum was overruled by the State and the National consumer forum on the basis of the lack of independent expert opinion in the favour of complainant. However the Hon’ble Supreme Court had upheld the findings and decisions of District consumer forum in this case relying on the principle of “res ipsa loquitor”(meaning thereby the thing speaks for itself i.e. there is no need of expert opinion in every case of negligence).

In the context of obtaining processes, there is a deserving need for a two-pronged approach. On one hand, the desirable direction points towards identification of minimum reasonable standards in light of the social, economical, and cultural context that would facilitate the adjudicators to decide issues of professional liability on an objective basis. On the other hand, such identification enables the medical professionals to internalize such standards in their day-to-day discharge of professional duties, which would hopefully prevent to a large extent the scenario of protection of patient's rights in a litigative atmosphere. In the long run, the present adversarial placement of doctor and the patient would undergo a transformation to the advantage of the patient, doctor, and society at large.

The above judgement of the Supreme Court will be analysed, particularly, in context of the recent highest compensation for medical negligence being awarded by Hon’ble Supreme Court to Bangalore based software engineer Prashant S. Dhananka.