Journal of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine

Medical Profession is considered as a faith based service since antiquity and the relationship between doctor and patient is entirely based on altruistic approach. But with the changing era, this sacred service has also turned into a profitable business for many, which has changed the perceptions of patient and doctor's community both in terms of quality health care services. The inclusion of medical services under the ambit of Consumer Protection Act has made it more difficult for medical professionals and institutions to deal with the legal complexities of the omission and commission of act, performed by them. The main Objective of this study was to identify the type of negligence & the specialties reported for medical negligence complaints and to study the patterns of filed medical negligence complaints under CPA in District Consumer Forum, Varanasi. Hence, this retrospective study is an effort to analyze the current pattern of such cases and its outcomes. For this study the Medical negligence complaints were retrieved from the Consumer Forum of District Varanasi from the period of 2001–2012. Total 32 cases were collected. Out of which only 30 cases related to medical negligence were studied and remaining 02 cases were left as they are related to medical insurance and policy. The study involves type of negligence, nature of hospital/clinic responsible for the treatment, status of filed complaints and specialty alleged for negligence. The maximum number of cases (33.33%) of medical negligence was filed against obstetrics and gynecology. The major part of negligence during the treatment was related to surgical procedure (56.6%). Negligence was proved in 33.33% cases and in 12 cases; the amount of compensation was sought for varied between 1 lakh to 5 lakh.