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N.K.Assumi (Advocate)     21 February 2010

Medical Negligence Amounting to Murder

A patient undergoing Gastric treatment was declared as a case of Cancer on diagnosis by a doctorn and on medication as a case of Cancer, Chemo started on the patient as a result of which the patient died. Can this amount to Murder?



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 11 Replies

Anil Agrawal (Retired)     21 February 2010

What about judicial negligence due to which an accused, though innocent, spends the best years of his life in jail, to come out after 15 years looking for his family?


(Guest)

was diagnosis incorrect. otherwise patient relative will land into trouble. cancer patient will not die where is it written?doctor is expected to treat patient as per standard protocol only not save him from everything. otherwise doctors will replace god. this is legal opinion not personal mind it

Suchitra. S (Advocate)     21 February 2010

Sir, if we decide that all medical negligence cases are murders, then there would be so many doctors inside prison. Sometimes the diagnosis go wrong and according to the finding doctors start giving treatment. The intention of doctor at that point of time during treatment is to save the patient. Infact the ultimate aim of a doctor is to treat a patient, whatever the case of patient may be. So, we difinitely cannot decide a case of medical negligence as murder. In murder, the intention of the accused is not to save the victim, as it is in the case of medical negligence.

1 Like

Arvind Singh Chauhan (advocate)     21 February 2010

Sir it can not be a murder unless his motive is proved,  and unless it is proved that doctor has an illegal nexus with an accused, who wants to kill such person with the help of doctor by giving such a risky therapy. Otherwise there are so many decisions of consumer forums that doctor can not be held liable for wrong dignosis unless reasonable care has not been taken in dignosis.

Anish goyal (Advocate)     21 February 2010

Arvind brother i want to correct you. Its not the motive but intention or knowledge as the case may be is required for the offence of murder, facts are insufficient to held doctor liable for murder, unless it is proved that act of doctor was such he was under knowledge that death is the consequence in all probabilities.

(Guest)

how will u prove patient died of chemo and not secondary to cancer?

Feroz M Shafeeque (Police Officer)     21 February 2010

As Mr. Avinash pointed out, it is not clear from the question whether the diagnosis of cancer was wrong or not.

 

I think cancer is usually diagnosed by way of biopsy or MRI scan, medical experts please correct if I am wrong. If the diagnosis was as a result of lab report, how can the doctor be charged of negligence, forget about murder.

Bhartiya No. 1 (Nationalist)     21 February 2010

Yes sir, cancer is usually diagnosed by way of biopsy and also it gets cross checked by senior pathologist/oncologist, and specimen/sample on which biopsy conducted remains in the lab for a long period.On the preserved sample again biopsy can be performed. Contact the lab where it got conducted.

Bhartiya No. 1 (Nationalist)     21 February 2010

Instead of " the preserved sample again test can be performed."

DR.SANAT KUMAR DASH (Eye Specialist)     22 February 2010

MR. ASSUMI,  YOUR    QUERY   IS   NOT   CLEAR.      ( 1)  PATIENT    WAS   UNDER   GOING   GASTRIC   TREATMENT...............( 2 )    DECLARED     AS   CANCER   .........HOW?????    ( 3 )  DIED   DURING   CHEMOTHERAPY.......... WHY     THE   DOCTOR    WILL  BE    LIABLE   U/S 302 IPC.....MURDER      ( 4 )  THERE  IS  NO   INTENTION    OF   THE    DOCTOR   TO    KILL   HIS   PATIENT.     ( 5 )  ALWAYS     A   DOCTOR    TRIES   HIS   LEVEL  BEST    TO   CURE    

N.K.Assumi (Advocate)     23 February 2010

Thanks to all of you for the termendous contributions in this issue.


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