Gurugram records 271 medical negligence cases in over four years

A total of 271 complaints of medical negligence against doctors and staff working at private and government hospitals in Gurugram have been recorded from January 2019 to April 15, 2023.

District Medical Negligence Board has claimed that of the total negligence complaints, 253 have been resolved and 18 are pending due to various official reasons.

Of the 271 complaints, 74 were lodged in 2019, 46 in 2020, 81 in 2021, 48 in 2022 and 22 were lodged from January 1, 2023, to April 15, 2023.

Health officials revealed that the District Medical Negligence Board is supposed to complete its inquiry in each case and submit a report within 60 days. However, in many cases, the inquiry gets delayed due to backlog or because one of the parties is missing hearings or delaying the submission of documents.

The six-member board includes the chief medical officer or his representative (chairman), the principal medical officer (member secretary), two specialists from the medical field concerned, the president of the Indian Medical Association's (IMA) Gurugram chapter, and a member of the National Integrated Medical Association.

"There are only 2 to 3 percent cases which prima facie appear to be genuine. There are also some cases where people living life without treatment suddenly get admitted to the hospital and die. But there are also those cases where people refuse to pay the bill in corporate hospitals after the patient dies. In such cases, we conduct inquiries but that is time taking process," said Dr Deepak Bhatia, member of the medical board and president of IMA, Gurugram. (IANS/NS)