Wording of Section 304-A: Analysing Medical Negligence

ABSTRACT With a growing number of cases related to medical negligence, there is hardly any definitive approach taken by Courts to apply criminal liability to such cases of negligence. The wording of Section 304-A is ambiguous to the extent that ‘rash or negligent’ is qualified and understood very differently in the Medical Negligence cases. This paper is based on the premise that there is a loss of trust between the patient and the doctor due to such ambiguity in laws and at a deeper level, how solving this ambiguity with the proposed change would bring about greater internalisation as well as better medical practices. Firstly, the author has placed focus on what constitutes Medical Negligence before moving on to explain how it is different from other Negligence cases because Medicine is still an evolving science. Further, it explores when liability starts for a doctor which is supported by coverage of judgments on Medical Negligence. The final corollary to which is that criminal liability should not be associated with medical negligence at all; with growing consumer cases there are far better ways to improve medicine and deter future events of negligence.