Open Access Research Article
DUTY, DELEGATION AND DAMAGE: TORTIOUS LIABILITY OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, VICARIOUS LIABILITY AND OTHER CIVIL WRONGS
Abstract
Medicine asks
patients for extraordinary trust: to be cut open, sedated, or prescribed
powerful drugs by someone they have just met. The law of torts is how society
holds that trust to account when it is broken. This article examines the civil
liability of medical professionals in India, covering the law of negligence,
the standard of care, and the doctrines of res ipsa loquitur and
informed consent. It looks closely at vicarious liability, the question
of when a hospital or the State must answer for the wrongs of its doctors,
nurses and staff, and separates it from the hospital's direct liability
for its own failures. It also covers civil wrongs beyond negligence: battery,
breach of confidentiality, false imprisonment, misrepresentation and breach of
statutory duty. The Indian framework (the common law of torts, the Consumer
Protection Act, 2019, the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 and constitutional
remedies under Articles 21, 32 and 226) is read together with the leading
Supreme Court decisions. The article concludes that Indian law has a mature set
of doctrines, but its practice suffers from an accountability gap that harms
patients and doctors alike. It offers reforms aimed at both.
Published Paper
Author Details
Authors: SHAKTHI SAMIYA S JRegistration ID: 1013502 | Published Paper ID: IJLRA13502Approved ISSN: 2582-6433 | Country: Delhi, India
Article Information
DUTY, DELEGATION AND DAMAGE: TORTIOUS LIABILITY OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, VICARIOUS LIABILITY AND OTHER CIVIL WRONGS
Authors: SHAKTHI SAMIYA S J
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Volume 3
- Issue 7
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- AbbreviationIJLRA
- ISSN2582-6433
- AccessOpen Access
- LicenseCC 4.0
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