Medical Negligence Cases to Stay with State Medical Councils, No Special Tribunal: Health Minister

New Delhi: Currently, there is no proposal for setting up any special tribunal to deal with medical negligence cases, Union Minister of State for Health for Health, Smt. Anupriya Patel informed the Parliament recently.

However, Minister Patel informed that the Medical Council of India (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 stipulates that any complaint regarding professional misconduct of a medical practitioner can be brought before the appropriate Medical Council for disciplinary action.

Further, as a punishment for any misconduct by medical practitioners, the concerned State Medical Council may remove the doctor's name from the Medical Register, informed the MoS Health.

Smt Patel was responding to a number of queries raised in the Rajya Sabha by parliament member Dr. Ajeet Madhavrao Gopchade, who sought to know about the steps being taken by the Central Government in collaboration with the State Governments to enhance the oversight of treatment protocols in Government hospitals ensuring that underprivileged individuals received adequate and quality care.

He also sought to know if the Government was aware of the increasing instances of alleged medical negligence both in Government and private hospitals and questioned about the measures implemented to address this issue. Further, he asked whether the Government was not contemplating setting up of a special tribunal for the impartial and scientific resolution of alleged medical negligence cases in the interest of natural justice.

In response, Smt. Patel informed that 'Health' being a State subject, primarily, the States/UTs are responsible to enhance the oversight of treatment protocols in Government hospitals to ensure underprivileged individuals to receive adequate and quality healthcare.

"The States / UTs are also responsible for taking cognizance of the instances of alleged medical negligence in both Government and private hospitals as well as for taking appropriate measures to address the issue. The complaints regarding medical negligence, as and when received by the Central Government, are forwarded to the concerned State/ UT for taking necessary action. The details of such cases are not maintained by the Central Government," she added in a her response.

Minister Patel further informed, "The Government of India enacted the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 (CE Act) and notified the Clinical Establishments (Central Government) Rules, 2012 (CE Rules) to provide for registration and regulation of Government (except those of Armed Forces) as well as private clinical establishments belonging to recognized systems of medicine. As per CE Act, the clinical establishments are required to fulfill the conditions of minimum standards of services provided for each type of service provided. The CE Rules also mandate all clinical establishments to comply with Standard Treatment Guidelines (STGs) issued by the Central / State Government. The States / UTs which have adopted the CE Act are primarily responsible for regulating their hospitals including private hospitals as per provisions of the CE Act and CE Rules to ensure the provision of affordable and quality healthcare to patients. CE Act also provides for cancellation of registration of hospitals, if the provisions of the Act are not complied with. The clinical establishments in the States/UTs, which have not adopted and implemented the CE Act, are registered and regulated by the State Acts."

However, she clarified that there was no proposal to set up any special tribunal to consider medical negligence cases and added that the complaints may be filed before the appropriate Medical Council for disciplinary action. 

"At present, there is no proposal under the Central Government for establishment of special tribunal for dealing with the cases of alleged medical negligence. However, the Medical Council of India (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 stipulates that any complaint with regard to professional misconduct of a medical practitioner can be brought before the appropriate Medical Council for disciplinary action. If a medical practitioner is found to be guilty of such misconduct, the Medical Council of the concerned State/UT may award such punishment as deemed necessary or may direct removal of the name of the delinquent medical practitioner from the register altogether or for a specified period. Further, the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) constituted under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, exercises appellate jurisdiction on appeals filed by medical practitioners against actions of State Medical Councils," informed the Minister.

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