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Bombay Hospital and Medical Research Centre v. Asha Jaiswal

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 801Decided 30 Nov 2021
Civil Appeal No. 1658 of 2010
Justice Hemant Gupta · Justice V. Ramasubramanian

Background

A 42-year-old patient underwent emergency surgery at Bombay Hospital in 1998 to repair a large abdominal aortic aneurysm. After the surgery, a blood clot formed in the surgical graft, requiring a second emergency operation; the patient suffered complications including loss of sensation in his legs, eventual gangrene, amputation, and ultimately died of septicemia weeks later. His family filed a medical negligence complaint, alleging the treating doctor was slow to respond after surgery, delayed diagnostic tests (DSA machine malfunction, delayed angiography), an unavailable operation theatre, and an ill-timed foreign trip by the doctor. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission found the hospital and doctor negligent and ordered them to pay over Rs. 14 lakh in compensation, relying on the principle of "res ipsa loquitur" (the facts speak for themselves).

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found both legal and factual errors in the Commission's reasoning and set aside the negligence finding. It held that res ipsa loquitur cannot be mechanically applied to find a doctor negligent merely because a patient's treatment failed or he died: the patient was critically ill with impending gangrene even before admission, the DSA machine's malfunction was beyond anyone's control, and the delay in securing an operation theatre was simply because other patients were being treated. The Court emphasized that doctors are expected to provide reasonable care, not guarantee outcomes, and the complainant had not produced any independent expert medical evidence to actually prove negligence, relying only on bare allegations. Since no sustainable negligence was shown, the Court allowed the hospital's and doctor's appeals and dismissed the complaint, while directing that Rs. 5 lakh already paid to the family under an earlier interim order need not be returned.

Lesson Learnt

A patient's death or an unsuccessful surgery, by itself, is not proof of medical negligence: a complainant must generally produce independent expert medical evidence showing a doctor fell below the accepted standard of care, rather than relying solely on the fact that something went wrong.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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