Doctors can’t be arrested directly for medical negligence; Court
No doctor can be arrested directly for medical negligence under the Bihar Medical Institution and Protection Rules 2018. The state cabinet has approved the rules of Bihar Medical Institution and Person protection act 2011. As per the Indian Medical Association (IMA), this will boost the doctors’ security and protect healthcare facilities.
Doctors could previously be arrested on the basis of a police complaint by the patient or patient’s relatives. But from now on, the patients or their attendants have to fill up the form to register a complaint. Then the police have to send a copy of this complaint to the district magistrate, who will later form a team of competent doctors to investigate the case.
The report by the team of doctors decides whether the doctor will be arrested or not. The advice of the investigation committee would be required, even if a case is lodged against a doctor in consumer court. Dr Ajay Kumar, senior vice-president of the state IMA said “The rules have definitely provided doctors with a huge relief, as earlier they were arrested even if they were not involved in any kind of medical negligence. Those who damage medical establishments will also be liable to pay Rs 50,000 fine and can be jailed for up to three years.”
As per the rules, the cops and the administration have to identify the hospitals prone to violence and should protect the doctors who work there. “Security audit of the hospitals has to be done by a deputy superintendent of police and based on the audit he/she has to take steps for the security of doctors there, like deploying registered private security agencies and installing CCTV cameras. Also, regular workshops have to be organised on doctor-patient relationship by the police and administration with the help of local people. Regular patrolling at such hospitals has also been made mandatory,” Dr Ajay added.
According to the rules, if any property of the hospital has been ransacked by the patient’s attendants, the police have to record the video evidence. Earlier there was a tendency among cops to avoid taking action in any case in which any doctor was assaulted or hospital’s property had been ransacked,” said Dr Harihar Dikshit, vice-president of the Bihar IMA.
Source: https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/bihar/doctors-can-t-be-arrested-in-negligence-cases/cid/1671424