Indian Medical Association vs V.P. Shantha (1995) is the landmark Supreme Court judgment that brought paid medical services under the Consumer Protection Act. This decision made patients consumers and doctors and hospitals service providers, allowing medical negligence cases to be filed in consumer courts and permanently changing medico legal practice in India.
The NCDRC has clarified an important legal principle in a medical negligence case from Maharashtra, holding that “no cure is not negligence” and that failure of treatment alone cannot be equated with medical negligence. In a case alleging post injection radial nerve palsy, the Commission found no proof of negligent treatment and dismissed the complaint against the doctor.
Medical negligence cases in India are rising, but there is no national database to measure their true burden. This article explains how the absence of reliable data, rising litigation, defensive medicine, and lack of tort reforms are harming doctors, patients, and the healthcare system, and why India urgently needs systemic legal and policy reforms.
