Patient not Attended by Hospital: Chhattisgarh HC Takes Suo Motu Cognizance of alleged medical negligence

Bilaspur: The Chhattisgarh High Court has taken suo motu cognizance of alleged medical negligence incident reported at a government medical facility in the State, where a father struggled to get medical attention for his severely injured son.

Allegedly, the medical facility did not have any doctors and therefore, the patient was referred to the Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS). The incident was reported in a local newspaper Haribhoomi Newspaper, Bilaspur.

Based on the news report titled as “तड़पते बेटे को देख पिता ने की इलाज की फरियाद, डॉक्टर ने बिना इलाज के भेज दिया CIMS” (translated as "Father pleaded for his son’s treatment, doctor referred to CIMS without treatment"), the High Court bench comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Bibhu Datta Guru initiated suo moto proceedings in this regard.

The news report highlighted about the non-attendance of the injured who met with an accident and was taken by his father to the facility. However, no doctor was there to attend him and therefore, he was referred to CIMS.

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As per the latest media report by Law Trend, despite the urgency of the situation, the hospital allegedly did not provide immediate medical assistance to the victim. Instead, the injured person was referred to CIMS, Bilaspur, without receiving the required preliminary care.

Law Trend has reported that during the hearing of the case on October 1, 2024, the counsel for the State of Chhattisgarh, Advocate General Prafull N. Bharat appeared alongside Deputy Advocate General Shashank Thakur and the Advocate General sought time to get instructions and respond to the concerns raised by the High Court.

The HC bench expressed concern over the reported incident and made a significant observation noting, "In matters of life and death, the delay in treatment is nothing short of a violation of fundamental rights. It is imperative that the state ensures prompt and effective medical care to all citizens, irrespective of location or financial status."

Further, the bench directed the State Government to submit a detailed report regarding the incident, along with the measures being taken to prevent such occurrences in the future. 

Listing the case for further hearing tomorrow, the HC bench mentioned in the order, "Learned Advocate General states that he may be allowed time to seek necessary instructions. List this case on 04.10.2024."

To read the order, click on the link below:

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/chhattisgarh-high-court-255198.pdf

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