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Dr. S.K. Jhunjhunwala v. Mrs. Dhanwanti Kaur & Anr.

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 915Decided 1 Oct 2018
Civil Appeal No. 3971 of 2011
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre · Justice Vineet Saran

Background

A patient consulted the appellant, an experienced gall bladder surgeon, after being diagnosed with gall stones, and gave consent for a laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery. During the operation the surgeon found swelling and adhesion on her gall bladder, informed her husband that laparoscopy was no longer safe, obtained his agreement, and switched to conventional open surgery to remove the gall bladder. The patient later developed complications, needed a further surgery elsewhere, and filed a consumer complaint alleging the surgery was performed negligently and without her valid consent. The State Commission dismissed her complaint, but the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission allowed her appeal and awarded her Rs. 2 lakh compensation, prompting the doctor's appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined the medical evidence and the sequence of events in detail and held that the switch from laparoscopic to open surgery was a reasonable intra-operative clinical judgment made after obtaining the husband's consent once complications were discovered, not an act of negligence or a breach of consent. Quoting the landmark Jacob Mathew judgment, the Court emphasised that medical negligence cases demand special caution: adverse outcomes in surgery can result from the complexity of the human body and medical science itself rather than any fault of the doctor, and liability should not be presumed merely because the result was unfavourable. Finding no basis to uphold the National Commission's reasoning, the Supreme Court allowed the doctor's appeal, set aside the compensation order, and restored the State Commission's original order dismissing the complaint.

Lesson Learnt

A doctor who makes a reasonable, documented clinical decision during surgery, including changing the planned procedure after getting fresh consent from the patient's family when unexpected complications arise, is not automatically negligent simply because the outcome was not ideal; courts require genuine proof of a breach of the standard of care, not just an unfavourable result.

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

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