The graduate training curriculum of a medical degree course includes forensic medicine, which gives the student some knowledge about law as it applies to medical practice. But it is by no means as much as one would desire, because it is not the purpose of the subject. If left to practice medicine with that much knowledge, the physician can suddenly find himself in deep trouble one day, if he is unfortunate and gets sued for medical malpractice or worse. It is true that the general public appreciates the healthcare system and protests loudly if it is threatened in any way. But people also want someone to blame when things go wrong in a given case. That someone is the physician. Many physicians in India do not find themselves sued by their unhappy patients through a lifetime of busy medical practice, but that cannot be left to chance. The trend is changing with time anyway. Now the people seem to expect miracles from doctors, and some of them tend to get angry, hostile and lash out when the expectations are not met. Physical assault is one way this manifests, and medical malpractice lawsuit is the other way it does so. The moment when the physician finds himself sued is a bad time to start learning about medical malpractice suits, partly because it is too late, and partly because he is so distraught and overwhelmed at that time that he is in no mental state to deal with the situation.
Contents
1 Oath for Physician
2 Professional Conduct
3 Legal Structure
4 Consumer Protection Act
5 Indian Penal Code
6 Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
7 Medical Council Inquiry
8 Departmental Inquiry
9 MTP Act
10 PCPNDT Act
11 Death
12 Do Not Resuscitate
13 Sexual Assault
14 Medical Records
15 Medicolegal Report
16 Neutral Expert Opinion
17 Refusal of Blood and Blood Product Transfusion
18 Consent
19 Medical Certificate
20 Licenses
21 Prescription
22 Issues Leading to MML
23 HIV and AIDS
Bibliography
