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Kerala High Court rules in the favour of nurse in the case of malicious medical negligence cases filed against them
The Kerala High Court, in the case of Celinamol Mathew vs. State of Kerala1, has opined that nurses in Government service and in private hospitals should also get protection like the doctors and that private complaints should not be entertained by courts against nurses unless the complainant gives prima facie evidence in the form of expert opinion to support their case of medical negligence. Further, the court stated that nurses should be given moral support by the society and Government. They should be allowed to work without fear of any prosecution and let them be known as Indian nursing nightingales.
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has held that expert medical evidence is crucial for determining medical negligence
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi, in the case of Chief Medical Officer Nehru Satabdi Central Hospital and Ors. vs. Puja Sahu2, set aside the orders by the District and State Commission by stating that the thumb amputation done by the hospital resulted due to the thread tied by the complainant's parents. The complainant who was admitted to the hospital to get a treatment for a snake bite was brought in with a thread tied to his thumb. Since the thread was tied by the parents of the complainant and not the hospital and since no expert opinion established hospital's negligence, the hospital could not be held responsible.
Footnotes
1. CRL.MC NO. 5401 OF 2018
2. Revision Petition No. 1353 OF 2022 (against the order dated July 22, 2022, in Appeal No. 156/2000 of the State Commission Orissa)
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