Medical Negligence with Special Reference to Act of Commission and Omission: A Narrative Review

Abstract

A doctor’s failure to uphold the standards of his profession, causing the death of a patient whom the doctor hoped to save, is known as medical negligence. The most embarrassing act one can commit is medical negligence, which usually results in the patient’s death. Legally, medical negligence is a breach of the duty of care leading to harm. Lack of clinical competence can be interpreted as negligence. Indian courts decide cases of medical negligence based on the Bolam test. According to Black’s Law Dictionary, negligence is defined as “conduct, action, or omission, which may be declared as negligence without any argument or proof as it violates the dictates of common prudence”. The three cardinal elements in negligence are duty of care failure, failure to exercise duty of care (Dereliction), and causation of damage to the patient on account of dereliction. References to medical negligence can be found in classical texts such as Manusmriti, Kotilya Arthashastra, Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, and others. To mitigate medical negligence, various measures can be taken, such as improved communication, strengthening training and education, emphasising quality assurance, and legal reforms. The rapid development of medical science and technology has proven to be a powerful tool for doctors to better diagnose and treat patients, but it has also become a tool to exploit people for profit. Accurate information about negligence and its laws is needed as there is not enough data in this regard. To avoid medical negligence, practitioners should show strict adherence to modern surgical ethics, which also include concepts like the importance of informed consent, doctor-doctor relationship, doctor-patient relationship, doctor-state relationship, doctor-attendant relationship, attendant-patient relationship, and patient autonomy.

Keywords

• act of omission
• bolam test
• clinical competence
• dereliction
• informed consent