The Hospital is vicariously liable for the acts of negligence committed by the Doctors engaged or empanelled to provide medical care- Supreme Court Ruled

The Supreme Court has dealt with a case of Medical Negligence and ruled that  it is common  experience that when a patient goes to a hospital, he/she goes there on account of the reputation of the hospital, and with the hope that due and proper care will be taken by the hospital authorities. If the hospital fails to discharge their  duties through their doctors, being employed on job basis or  employed on contract basis, it is the hospital which has to  justify the acts of commission or omission on behalf of their doctors.

    The Appellants had challenged the order of the National Commission in ordering to pay compensation for the medical negligence committed by the Doctors. The victim is a child, who lost both the eyes only because of omission to treat properly. It is the case of the Complainant that if the Doctors properly treated the child, it could not have lost both the eyes.

    It has been concluded by the Supreme Court that Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is one of the  major emerging causes of childhood blindness. A  premature baby is not born with ROP. At the time of  birth, particularly in the case of premature babies, the  retina is immature, which is natural at this stage. It is  the post-natal developments in the retinal vessels which  could lead to ROP.

As per medical literature, all infants with a birth  weight of less than 1500 grams, or gestational age of  less than 32 weeks, are required to be mandatorily  screened for ROP, which usually takes about 4 to 5  weeks to be diagnosed. The routine screening should  begin no later than 4 weeks after birth, and possibly  even earlier for infants at higher risk (2 to 3 weeks).   The standard of care is to be judged in the light of  the protocols and standard procedures prevailing on  the date of birth, and not on the date of trial

It is clear from the above medical literature that ROP is a  visually progressive disease, which can be treated  successfully if it is diagnosed on time. ROP advances  through 5 stages. Medical literature suggests that Stage 3  can be treated by Laser or Cryotherapy treatment in order to  eliminate the abnormal vessels. Even at Stage 4, in some  cases, the central retina or macula remains intact thereby  keeping intact the central vision. When the disease  progresses to Stage 5, there is a total detachment, and the  retina becomes funnel shaped, leading to blindness. The failure to inform  the Respondent No.2-mother of the necessity to have the ROP  test conducted in the case of a pre-term baby, and the high  risk involved which could lead to total blindness, was a  breach of duty. Furthermore, the failure to carry out the ROP  test, which is mandated by standard protocol, while the baby  was under their direct care and supervision from birth till he  was 3 ½ months old, amounted to gross negligence by the  Doctors, and deficiency of service by the Hospital.

So, the Supreme Court has confirmed the compensation ordered by the National Commission and further held that “Furthermore, the failure to carry out the ROP  test, which is mandated by standard protocol, while the baby  was under their direct care and supervision from birth till he was 3 ½ months old, amounted to gross negligence by the Doctors, and deficiency of service by the Hospital. The consequential damage caused to the baby by not having conducted the mandatory ROP test, which led to the total blindness of the baby, has given rise to an actionable claim of negligence”

 Case Law:  CIVIL APPEAL NO. 6619 OF 2016 (MAHARAJA AGRASEN  HOSPITAL & ORS. Versus MASTER RISHABH SHARMA & ORS. – Date of Decision of SC- 16-12-2019)