What is Medical Negligence? What are the components and different types of medical negligence?

Negligence is the breach of a legal duty to care. A breach of this duty gives a patient the right to initiate action against negligence.

Doctors in India may be held liable for their services individually or vicariously. Doctors must exercise an ordinary degree of skill. However, they cannot give a warranty of the perfection of their skill or a guarantee of cure. If the doctor has adopted the right course of treatment, if she/ he is skilled and has worked with a method and manner best suited to the patient, she/ he cannot be blamed for negligence if the patient is not totally cured.

Negligence is the breach of a legal duty to care. A breach of this duty gives a patient the right to initiate action against negligence.Doctors in India may be held liable for their services individually or vicariously. Doctors must exercise an ordinary degree of skill.

In Suresh Gupta’s case in August 2004 the standard of negligence that had to be proved to fix a doctor’s or surgeon’s criminal liability was set at “gross negligence” or “recklessness.” If the doctor has adopted the right course of treatment, if she/ he is skilled and has worked with a method and manner best suited to the patient, she/ he cannot be blamed for negligence if the patient is not totally cured.


Patrick Bolitho test has been accepted in India. Bolitho test says that "A doctor will be liable for negligence in respect of diagnosis and treatment in spite of a body of professional opinion approving his conduct where it has not been established to the court's satisfaction that such opinion relied on is reasonable or responsible. If it can be demonstrated that the professional opinion is not capable of withstanding the logical analysis, the court would be entitled to hold that the body of opinion is not reasonable or responsible”

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